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When diagnosed with sleep apnea, which of course can happen to heavy people as well as thin people I learned some of the connections with sleep loss and weight gain. When you have sleep apnea you appear to be sleeping but you are not getting a good quality sleep because you stop breathing. Each time you are awakened because of the apneas you are not fully awake but it does affect that quality. Many people overeat during states of sleep deprivation and some do it mindlessly. It has something to do with your body's energy. So that's one reason why sleep is so important besides the fact she is wounded and should be in bed as her doctor had instructed her. Nancy:smile:

lapbandtalker, you are correct in your assertian that sleep deprived people are less likely to lose weight. What they are talking about is people that only get about 4 hrs of sleep each and every night. Studies show everyone needs at least 7 hrs of sleep each night. Without that, you cannot stay healthy for long. I will not say for sure as you should not say for sure she lost the weight by staying in bed. We cannot say for sure either way. But, IMO, your advice to stay in bed with all the conveniences and food and drinks w/i arms reach was not good advice. Just because she could not walk on her leg does not mean she has to be bedridden. There are crutches. As a nurse, I would hope she knows about those. I will say that your sister most likely did gain 15 lbs of muscle. If she was with a personal trainer, she must have been with them for awhile to lose that much weight properly. I am willing to bet she lost the 15 lbs by losing that muscle weight gain. I know from personal experience that if you lift weights, you are going to gain muscle. If you gain muscle and do cardio, you are going to lose overall weight much slower.

Just asking, but have you two had your thyroid levels checked recently? An underactive (hypothyroidism) thyroid often presents itself like you're describing. I've had it since 1995. Other symptoms include (not everyone, but these are typical) hair loss, weight gain (!!!!!), feeling cold. I've had all of them, and when my medication is not quite right, or the thyroid gets a little worse (stops functioning to the level it previously was), these symptoms creep back into the picture. In fact just 2 days ago, my dietician told me my thyroid number was down again (this time from too strong medication). I have less energy, and I'm sure my hair loss is not just from the weight loss(!). So back to changing the meds again. The medication (Synthroid or generic equivalent) works great, at the right dosage - just a tiny pill every morning. Feel better soon....

A low weight is worrisome as you may have limited physiologic reserves. Should a patient with a BMI less than 22 or 23 after weight loss surgery become ill, they may lose additional weight and have a difficult time recovering. If your weight is very low and even if you feel good, you should still be seen by your surgeon for lab testing and counseling on how to maintain or increase your weight to a safer, healthier weight. Usually, a year or two of being very thin is followed by a 10 pound weight gain that gets most patients into a perfect goal range.

Hi XD and welcome. The only advice i would give anyone is not to think that the band (or any other weight loss surgery [WLS]) is going to be the solution to their weight issues. In fact far from it. Any WLS options can be sabotaged and you can end up right back where you started and maybe even worse. The big question you need to ask yourself is whether you can make the lifestyle changes required to achieve your goal. The WLS is a tool - purely that. It is not a fix all or total solution. Unless you honestly deal with the issues that actually caused weight gain and are prepared to make some significant lifestyle change choices, then you are going to struggle to succeed and, to be honest, you would be better not to bother having the surgery. I hope this doesn't sound like too much of a lecture - but I can't stress how important it is that you look carefully at this stuff before having surgery. Cheers AJ

Renee!! I'm so sorry you're having to go through all this right now!! This whole process of jumping through insurance hoops is so stressful!! Is there anyway you can get on a waiting list with your pulmonoligist office so if someone cancels an earlier appt you can get in before the 17th? I have a cpap that I never wear...I hope they don't say anything to me about it!!! This is such a hard time of year to have our final appts (mine's tomorrow too) with all the food from the holidays. My surgeons office though wasn't too concerned about any weight gain so hopefully yours wont be either! I know its hard but try to stay positive...it will all work out!! Let me know if you need to chat/vent!!

But I also took all of my (then three) kids to Mexico with me for banding- because Adrian needed to nurse and I was afraid of who would bring her back if something happened. I also didn't stay in the hospital overnight. I went to the hotel around 8 pm and had som chicen broth & gatoraide per instructions!!!! Adrian also went when I got my one & only fill. If i were to get pregnant. I would personally try to keep my fill If I am not vomiting (however this would be different than with Adrian- that was 10 months of pucking!! DH thought bullimic pucked less than me). I would also try to keep weight gain to the baby- but keep the carbs and Protein high through good stuff, (My opinion and hoping it waits till I am at goal to happen if god knock twice in this lifetime)

Products that are sugar free using many forms of artificial sweeteners and also products using natural no calorie sweeteners such as stevia should be fine and should not cause dumping syndrome. I am 3 years post-op RNY gastric bypass surgery. I strictly avoid processed sugars. I have a sweet tooth and that is one of the major causes that contributed to my weight gain over my lifetime. I limit myself to artificial sweeteners (such as Splenda and sugar alcohols), to natural low calorie sweeteners (such as Stevia) and to the natural sugars found in fruits and milk. I had diabetes. That went into remission when I left the hospital two days after surgery and I have not taken any diabetic medicine ever since and my blood sugar levels are good. I test my blood sugar levels periodically. I read the labels of all food that I consume. I look at the grams of sugar per serving. If it is above 5 grams, I look at the ingredients. The ingredients are listed in order by highest percentage, and if the first 5 ingredients contain processed sugar (in any of its many forms), then I avoid this food, like a plague. The sugars I avoid are sucrose (table sugar), fructose (honey), dextrose, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), cane juice, evaporated cane juice, agave, molasses, corn sweeteners, brown sugar, barley malt, beet sugar, and pure maple sugar.

A couple of things I wish I knew. The constipation is real. I average between 14 - 22 grams of fiber daily but still have to take something everyday. I wish someone had of explained that too me. I have rarely been constipated in my life until now. All the aches and pains I got. I am the only one of several people I know who got the surgery who has had issues. Weird hip pain where I couldn't walk without assistance and now Meralgia Paresthetica. I had this condition many years (24) ago when I was pregnant and it came back with a vengeance. I refused any meds due to potential weight gain and will hopefully wait it all out.

Hello All, I'm new and will have 1 year with the band on April 4th and have lost 128 lbs. I have found it to be very rewarding and can (almost) keep up with my 2.5 year old boy, lol. My diabetes is gone and I feel great! My yard hasn't looked better, and I am driving my wife nuts with all of the projects I am doing around the house. I found this website due to the fact I am looking for some help. Recently I have been experiencing sever 12-15 lb Water retention weight gain. I went to the doctor, and had kidney and blood tests done, both fine and perfect. And I am looking for any help I can get, I am very active outside of work, I work out 3 times a week, walk the dog every night. So any help or advise would be appreciated, I am currently exploring this site, so bare with me if I make any etiquette errors. Thanks and hope to speak to you soon!

So I am 2.5 weeks out. I just moved onto the "soft food" stage from lliquids. I dont get my first fill for another 4 weeks. I am reallu worried about gaining weight during this time due to my hunger cravings being back. I know this is supposed to get better after my first fill, but what until then? IM working out 5 days a week. Did you guys experience weight gain during this stage before your first fill?

Hi everyone I was just wonder if anyone else gained weight right after surgery? I was 209 when I went in for surgery that morning and when I got home 2 days later I'm now 217 grrrrrr. So I thought ok its just the Water weight from all the fluids they pumped in me from the IV but its been 4days and I'm still 217 will this weight come off? It really makes me mad I haven't ate nothing but my protien shakes and some sf Jello and sf popsiclkes. Please let me know if this happen to you the first week of surgery. Thanks Belinda

Re: In-person Support Groups - I have only gone to support group meetings at Sky Ridge in Lone Tree...not every month, but 3-4 times this year. (I had surgery in late December 2012) This particular support group doesn't really do much for me. It seems like the main people who attend on a regular basis fit into two categories: people who HAVE NOT been sleeved/lap banded/bypassed and people who have had some sort of bariatric surgery but have had weight gain. There are almost no successful, POST OPERATIVE weight loss people to talk to. I don't find it as motivating, because it's almost like if people are not struggling post surgery (one year, two year, etc POST OP), they do not need the support group which kind of creates a vacuum. At the last meeting I went to, the only person there who had lost all her weight AND was maintaining for more than a couple of years spoke about being so regimented re: her cooking/eating, I just could not imagine that would be me. I have four kids under the age of 11...youngest is 3. This woman cooks all her food on Sunday and packs them in individual pre-portioned containers. I would need another refrigerator just to hold this much food, but more importantly, it just seemed kind of extreme...not a realistic way to live. But, I have very little to compare it to, because all the other post surgery people who are as far out from surgery as her have weight issues....Most of these weight issue people had lap bands and are struggling. If any of you have attended an in-person support group somewhere in the state, was it like this (as I describe) or did you find more successful, long timers in attendance?

Good morning! How many ladies gain weight when its that time of the month. I was a little upset because I stepped on the scale yesterday morning and apparently I gained 2lbs since Sunday. I'm still on mushies so I know I have not gone over my calories for the day. This morning I got my period and I'm thinking that might be the weight gain. I hadn't gotten it since April 17.

FWIW, I am over 50 and the weight does start to add health concerns over time. For me, its osteoarthritis in my knees and hips, severe sleep apnea, high BP, high CH. Add menopause, because it exacerbates weight gain. And I'm pre-pre-diabetic. So....consider going to a seminar and starting the process -- nobody says you have to have the surgery in the end, a fair number of people on this board drop out before they cross the finish line. As part of the process, my PCP and FOUR specialists think its a great idea for me. Best wishes to you!

I was 227 around Holloween now im 240! ..I gained 13 pounds n I feel like shit...I swear losin weight has got 2 b the hardest thing in the world especially if u love food...but Im goin 2 make sure I lose those 13 pounds in 2 weeks..I am NOT goin back to 288! I just had 2 vent...Has any1 experienced this tramatic weight gain? If so, lemme know how u pulled through..thanks!

I too am experiencing no restriction while breastfeeding! Pre-pregnancy I weighed 178 and at delivery 200. Within one week or so post partum I weighed 181 and felt so excited that I might actually weigh less than before...weight was dropping fast and I was eating right. However, when my milk came in, I was drawn to carbs and started eating constantly. My baby is 3months now and breastfeeding well; however, I am now 198 and I feel every bit of it. Super stressed about the weight gain, but know nursing is best for baby. Keep thinking about weaning, but I'd feel like a failure. If I see 200 again, I might flip! Clothes don't fit and I feel like a pudge! Afraid if I limit calories my milk will diminish. I never anticipated the hunger while breastfeeding and this is baby #2.

okay, gotcha, I misunderstood - I thought you were doing the revision in one surgery. So, here is my story - I had my band removed on a Thursday in September, I returned to work the following Monday. I was feeling poorly, I think reaction to the anesthesia (and maybe even a little depression over the whole band failure?). I was okay, sorta, but then got sick with a virus. I wound up working Mon-Wed that week and taking Thurs and Friday off. i think if I hadn't gotten that virus, I would have been okay with just the "long weekend" to recover. The port incision was sore for awhile though. The other thing that happened was that starting about a week after the band came out, my hunger went through the roof. I hadn't had Fluid in my band for years, but once it was removed, I felt like my stomach was a bottomless pit. I finally got control over the weight gain by doing a low carb thing with my family doc, just to kinda hold me over until I was sleeved. For me, the Sleeve was a much harder recovery. Part of the reason for that is you have very restricted fluid and calories - so in addition to all the surgery recovery you just aren't getting the fuel you are used to getting! Some people bounce right back and go to work in a week or so after the sleeve surgery. Many people needed more time, I am one of them even though I didn't have any complications. I am almost 4 weeks out, have been back at work for a week and am just exhausted. Some days are better, some are worse, but I am certainly not back to my normal self. Having said all that, I still think it is worth it. I am already enjoying being a bit lighter on my feet!

Folks, I cringe to read the title of my own post. I think it's every Baratric patients nightmare. The mix of embarrassment, guilt and resentment that I feel is horrid. Especially because my lapband failed and the Sleeve was supposed to work. Now I'm not saying it did not work, I'm saying that I have seriously fallen from grace and need your help and compassion to get back up again I was doing great, working out North of an hour a day and loosing weight steady eddy! At my 4 month appointment my doc could not be prouder, he told me to keep doing what I'm doing and he'll see me in another six months...by month 6 I'd lost a total of 69lbs, and at 204lbs's I was just 1 lb shy of the big 70, and 4 lb's shy of the amazing Onederland that I have not seen in 16 years...life was good. And with my new found confidence, I finally made a move and took my dream job, that is a mix of stay at home and travel, and that was the tipping point... Although the best career move ever, my new regimen of working from home (moving less), but even worse the travel, with the pitfalls of constant restaurant eating, company functions and buffets, I let my guard down! One carb led to another, and the travel accompanied by sedentary tiredness, socializing and pressures of breaking in and fitting into my new job left me with less focus on my bariatric journey and not much will power to dedicate. In a short month (between month 6 and 7) I blinked and even though I maintained workouts (albiet no so intense), on sheer food alone, I gained back 10lbs!!!!!!!! Woa? How could this have happened? Surely it's Water or monthly hormonal gain, but who was I kidding...the weight stuck! In complete panic, I cut out the obvious crap that I know I was doing wrong in the carb department, and cut out the diet sodas that crept back in etc, and have lost 3 of the 10lbs in the last few weeks...but it's slow and painful and I'm so down trodden about it. How could I actually GAIN at a time when I should be in loosing honeymoon? I mean I expected this perhaps a couple years out, but the sheer ferociousness with which the lb's jumped back on is beyond scary! So here's my problem...I've cut out the crap and I'm back to my old workout routine, BUT I'm constantly craving carbs and although I'm eating the right things...I know I'm eating too much of them and in the wrong quantities.., I get full on more than what should fill me...then 30mins latter I'm hungry again, so I pop another Protein bar, or bowl of cherries, or low at mozzarella cheese stick with a wassa cracker, or cup of lowfat yoghurt and fruit., or some nuts..you get the picture, and on some mornings I can do all of the above slowly via grazing. But I just get SOOO hungry. What happened to all the Grelin being gone?? I also eat late at night as it is when the kids go to bed, I hop on my laptop to catchup on work and I like to have a nice hot cup of tea and something to munch on. Pals, Iike I said, I know I have only myself to blame and I feel horrid about it ...I've avoided even coming on Bariatric pal (did not want to move my ticker 6lb's UP, which I just made myself do!!!), I want to hide like an Ostrich and pretend this is not happening, I should be loosing, not regaining and trying to loose what I regained!!! ..but...I need you, and if I'm not accountable and if I don't plug into a source of help, well...I don't even want to think where I'm headed for. So any thoughts, encouragement, similar situations, advise...ANYTHING, would be so much appreciated in this time of disappointment in myself. PS: I called my docs office after re-gaining the first 5lbs...I don't live very close to them. The nurse told me to track all I eat for 3 days and said I'll be fine "you know what to do! You got this!". But then I suddenly had to travel for work events involving TONS of the hardest to resist food, and the 5lb's became 10lbs (3 of which I have spent the last 2 weeks loosing). It's like my stomach can eat so much more now and it's constantly wanting more...I'm quite embarrassed to call my doc's office and tell them I'm further in the hole.

I have united healthcare. There isn't any weight gain/loss rules! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Could you have put some lead weights in your pockets to look like a weight gain????

Two years ago today I was banded.. I do not regret my decision for one single second to have my band nor that I went to MX to have it done. It changed my life..I am happier and healthier then I have ever been in my life, despite my erosion on November 28th 2005. For 18 months my band did its job..I am happy to report I have lost 106 lbs to date and NO weight gain in the last 5 months without my band. I went from a size 22 to a 10..I have learend to use my head and do this solo, it is not easy ..no lie there but I am determined. Best of luck to all of you..I wish you the same success I had with my band :scared:

I am single and have been for a couple of years. I am getting banded tomorrow and really looking forward to regaining my confidence back and self-esteem that disappeared with my weight gain. I really miss romance and having someone to share those special moments with. Tricia, your wedding photo is beautiful!!!! Fiona:clap2:

I rarely am on these boards anymore but got an email update and saw your post... I am just coming up as of today..30 days away from my 4 year "bandiversary". As of today, I am down 103lbs lost total. I do still have about 30 to go. For my own reasons, it has been very slow loss over these 4 years. I was not one of those who lost it all quickly straight out of the gate..BUT that is said not to discourage anyone from this surgery! What was always most important to me was not how I lost it and how much I lost, but KEEPING IT OFF!!! LIke you said yourself..you probably could diet and excercise one more time..fighting your way down..and then you know as well as I knew...you will most likely gain it all back. I never did a diet where I managed to keep it off. Statistics are against us. Only 5% of the population who loses weight keeps it off over a 5 year period. You have 95% chance of FAILURE!!! Those are bad betting odds! I am not discouraged about what I have not lose yet..I know some of it is still fat and I do have some belly skin to get rid of as well with surgery some day, but when I am upset that my summer clothes in size 12 are suddenly loose..I can't complain that much. My 10's are even feeling a bit loose these days. I have managed to not gain back a single lb in 4 years!! 4 freaking years and no weight gain!! I do admit..there are days I hate the band and other days I am grateful for it. Most days I am bored with food and don't even want to take the time to chew food..other times, I have cravings that I cannot ignore. You won't totally be a perfect eater once banded..you will still have moments of wanting to eat crap, but just less of it! As far as the money..sure..your family could probably take $18K and buy a car, make house payments, buy "stuff", take a vacation..but what is all that stuff worth if your life is shortened because of your weight. My highest weight was 300lbs..I was less than that when banded..but even though I was fairly "healthy" at that time , I know I was on a slow death march if I continued to stay that weight. You are worth that money...that 95% is working against you..stop fighting it and make a decision that will save your life. I went to Mexico because my insurance would not cover it and it was the best $9000 I spent in my life!! Best of luck whatver you decide! Patty 8/13/02 -103 Dr Kuri

@@dusky goddess, I posted a face picture comparison on this site about two months ago because I felt it may encourage other people who are in the weight loss stage. I think about having it removed from time to time. I struggle emotionally with my new body and realize there is a lot of healing that has to come from within. I was never one to flaunt it for the camera even when I was young. I didn't take my high school year book picture but picture avoidance worsened with weight gain. It bothers me when people talk about how skinny I am now. Even that makes me feel uncomfortable. My mind is struggling with these comments. I don't have answers for your situation but I hope you become more comfortable with who you are physically. I'm sure you are beautiful in a full body picture as well.