Search the Community

Thanks everyone. Insurance criteria varies by providers. Most want it to be “medically” necessary. Surgery failure, weight gain, complications etc. I used a medical advocate to gain approval.

slight weight gains when you're in or near maintenance are very common, but I'd try to get ahead of that because it could start getting out of control if you're not careful. It's way easier to lose 5 or 10 lbs than it is to lose 50. I've been in maintenance for about five years now, and I allow myself a few lbs of fluctuation, but when my weight gets up to my "oh crap" number, I spring into action. It's all hands on deck until I'm safely back in range. If 172 is comfortable for you, maybe have 180 as your "oh crap" rate? (just a suggestion - you could make it anything). To get back down, just really buckle down and make sure you're following all the rules until you're safely back down to where you want to be. note that a 10% gain (10-20 lbs for most of us) is VERY common after you hit your lowest weight. It usually happens during year 3, but then, you lost your weight very quickly, so you're likely already in maintenance even though it's only been a year (and congrats, by the way!! That's an impressive loss!!). That 10-20 lb gain is not inevitable, but it seems to happen to the vast majority of us without much "effort" on our part. I think it's just your body settling in at a weight it wants to be (not saying that you're doomed to stay there - with effort, you can get lower - but our bodies do seem to want to settle in at some "set point" - unfortunately, my "set point" is about six lbs more than I want to be, so it's a constant struggle!!)

I am a April sleever ... I was sleeved on april 14th ,2010 and I am down 53 lbs so far ... I have been at a stall for 45 days now with ONLY 1/2 lb lost:sad0:!! Its very frustrating but I know that it will pass. I have NO hair loss :thumbup:.. My hair is actually extra thick!!!! I get plenty of protein and that is no problem.. I just have the problem with this stall. I pray that it will get better.. No weight gain , just no weight lost... I still have to work @ the weight loss with exercise and diet .. NO SILVER BULLET !!!:thumbup:

Hi! I am 15 years out from DS. I will tell you what I was told not only by my surgeon but more or less everyone in my support group. I say from my support group because when I had surgery there was no DS Surgeon in our state and everyone left the state to have surgery, hence I don't think any of us had the same surgeon other than a married couple. EMBRACE THE FAT!!!! Number one rule! If you don't see fat in your toilet your not eating enough. My skin gets extremely dry any time I cut the fat. I am shocked that you were told or assumed that low fat was great for you. Protein should be about 100 grams a day split up in 20-25 gram servings, so any fatty meat is good!!! Avoid sugar. Sugar isn't as bad for DS'ers as it is for RNY, we don't dump. However, we absorb 100% of the sugar we take in. I am also surprised you can eat bread at all. Most DS'er will have bloating and serious gas issues from bread. For me (and from most I have heard from) the gas hits at the night so you may not be aware of it. For me it has been so bad the stink wakes me up at nigh, thank goodness I can blame the dog Try going flour free for a month then reintroduce it to your body, if you have a reaction please stop. To make your diet easy for you, the order you should be eating your food, fatty meats,non starchy veggies with butter or olive oil, if your still hungry go back to fatty meat you didn't eat enough!!! Go easy on the starchy veggies. IF you need bread and desserts, no more than a bite or two. But as my surgeon says, if you still hungry by the time you get to bread and dessert your out eating your surgery! As for malabsorption, you absorb about 20-25% of fat, 50ish% of protein and 100% of sugar (carbs are sugar, stay way from carbs that are not veggies) You need to go back to experimenting with your body, bread...flour based food give me gas, bloat and in the end a lot of time in the bathroom. I also feel like I have the flu. My husband will look at the cookie in my hand and will ask me if I have plans for tomorrow and is it worth being sick on the couch for. Most of the time it isn't! I also have issues with rice, it will clog me up. I have heard of other DS'ers with that issue with rice too, but many more with flour. Sugar will cause the scale to go up. I still eat sugar, but it is a rare treat, not a daily ,weekly or even monthly treat. Mostly a yearly treat at this time of year. But I still very easy on it because to much will cause bloating and gas too. That is normal for humans who don't eat sugar, not just DS'ers. On the sugar note, if your craving sugar your going thru withdrawal or some protein drinks will cause cravings or you need to up your vitamin Bs special B12. Ok, what to eat on the go. I drive for a living so I have this down. My favorite is meat and cheese roll ups. What ever meat and cheese is on sale at the deli. In the roll up I will put a slice of red pepper or a some cream cheese or a smear of spinach dip (fat is your friend!!!) Jerky and beef sticks are great! Nuts. Costco has parmesan cheese chips, LOVE THEM! Tuna salad eaten with a fork with a cheese chip on top. I get the fatty tuna and a bit of crunch from the cheese chip. Love it! Salad with LOTS of meat. I can do chicken strips, bunless burgers, salad at any fast food place. Be careful of yogurt, most are low fat and high sugar. Actually in general avoid any food that is low fat, the sugar is crazy high. If you want yogurt, plain and add your own fruit or sugar free jam to it. You can eat fruit, pick higher fiber ones just be aware of the amount of sugar your eating. I do apples slices and berries mostly, easy to pack for the road. These are treats, not staples. Depression, I never had depression issues before surgery and was not prepared for it after. It hit me about a year out. I take lexapro now, it does not cause weight gain. I have noticed that when I eat more fatty fish, salmon or can tuna in fat (hard to find anymore) I feel better. I upped my omegas when I caught that, so now I am taking those with my vitamins. I would suggest talking to your primary about depression and then getting a therapist or councilor to talk to. Not only for everything going on in your life, you have a lot! but also for food addiction. Surgery will not fix food addiction and if you don't get a handle on it, you will eventually out eat your surgery.

Glad I helped. Don't worry about the weight gain. I at first was upset about the lbs coming back on. But I knew I had my lapband to help me afterwards. Keep us posted/updated as you go along. Nadine

Good luck!!!! I'm a former runner looking to get back to a pre weight gain and pre ankle injury running status I understand where you are. Please be careful and don't push yourself too hard. You'll get there. I'll be cheering you on. Be sure to keep us posted on your progress.

Downloaded the app on my phone and started today. Day 1 was simple. Skin around my incisions was sore a bit from the running segments. Plan to stick with it and my 2013 goal is to run a 5k with my daughters, who are both competitive runners and run track. Used to run a lot before a broken foot and a ton of weight gain stopped me. Can't wait for the first race some time in future...wish me luck!

Hey guys! Another lurker here! I've been reading all of your stories from day 1 and keep coming everyday to check the thread! I found pieces of my life in each and every story and at times it was hard to read some of them and not get chocked up. You guys made me think about my own life and my own issues , even though for the last 5 years I put them in a box in the back of my head and slowly I started to let them go and I'm happier since . Well, mainly because 5 years ago I left "home" (Romania) and moved far away, to the UK. I found that since that happened I'm loving my dad more and even can't wait to see him every 6 months when I go back to visit . This wouldn't have happened if I were still living there. I met my wonderful husband when I moved here and he changed me for the better! I'm so happy I let go of the anger I had, but that only happened about 3 years after I left home, it took some time. But In all honesty, my story is not a dark one, I can't be hypocritical and say otherwise, I had a fairly happy childhood and was blessed with good friends growing up for whom my weight was never a problem. I don't know why I overate all my life. My earliest memory of me overheating was when I was around 7-8 years old and mom made donuts. And I also had to do homework. I remember sitting on the sofa with a big bowl of donuts and eating ..and eating..and ..eating.. My parents told this story over the years, fondly remembering how I was stuffing myself just to get out of homework. Now, knowing myself.. I'm sure it was because ..I loved to eat and never knew when to stop, not because of homework. I've always been a tall muscular child and until 15-17 I wasn't actually fat but since I was very young I heard how I was "fatter than other kids". My dad always called me "fatty" but in romanian(sounds a tad better in romanian) and he kind of sounded sweet, for him it really was a term of endearment ..so for me..it was very normal to be the "fatty" around..looking back..I really wasn't..and probably that's how it started. Every time we would go visit relatives, my dad would embarrass me in front of the others, telling me to stop eating . I don't remember a time when we went places as a family where I didn't cry. All my life I heard how I was "too sensitive and cry always" .. But in their defence..I cried a lot, as a kid, as a teenager, as a young adult..all that changed when I left the country...hmmm..I wonder why? Well, because I'm finally surrounded my lovely people that won't put me down at every step. My mom is a wonderful person , always doing everything for everyone, dad is a good person as well and always told me how much he loves me and my brother, always hugging us, but at the same time...he was always angry, always telling us we're doing everything wrong, we're good for nothing, etc.. It was so confusing.. He would yell at us, and threaten us with some butt whooping and in 10 minutes he would come over ,hugged us and told us, we're just "too sensitive" and that he loved us. So that's why I have mixed feelings and can't say my childhood wasn't a good one. But it wasn't the greatest either. I remember sooooo many times around the dinner table when my dad would yell and I would keep my head down, tears were running down my face straight in to the food that I wouldn't touch. And then it started with secretly eating, hiding food, eating very very fast while they were away, etc. Also, my boyfriend of 4 years in Romania.. Would not hold my hand in public and wouldn't act like we were together even though..well,everyone knew about us, as we were in a big great group of friends. That, of course, wasn't great for my self esteem and of course, made me eat even more. Where I come from, people think its just ok to tell someone how fat they are and to make them feel like they're worthless. I was working in a school in Romania and when I gave my 2 weeks notice because I was moving to the Uk, the principal wished me all the best and she added : "now you'll fit better in the society, people are fatter in the UK" or something to that effect. But again, the way they're saying these things.. They don't mean to hurt you..they genuinely think its ok to say these thing..its a damn cultural thing, I don't know. I think there are so many issues that contributed to my weight gain over the years, but I also think greed was also a biiiiig factor. I've been sleeved 6 months ago and lost 80 pounds so far and in a month we're going to Romania to visit my parents, brother and friends..and it is for the first time when I don't secretly wish that something bad would happen that would cause us to postpone the trip, this time, I don't feel so ashamed..and for the first tine, my brother won't grab my tummy and say: come on, what's with all this fat?are you pregnant or something? Mmmmmmyeah, and that would be the very first second he would see me at the airport..wasn't very anxious to see my parents and hear similar things, how I get fatter and fatter every time I come home. I think my dad made amends with me in his own weird way and paid for my gastric sleeve surgery, as I didn't have any chances of paying for it myself . He did not pressure me into it, it was my idea but when I first told him I want to have the surgery.. His face lit up, its like I could read on his face the joy and the anticipation that he'll finally have a normal looking daughter. Oh well, so so many things to say..and I really wrote way too much. I'm so sorry for the long post, I just don't know where to start..where to end..but I wanted to write a post too, as I felt bad lurking around and reading all your stories.. Anyhow, sending you all happy thoughts and you're all so brave and I respect you so much, after reading everything..all I can say is ..you are a bunch of tough cookies !

Hi everyone! My name is Pamela and I am 27 years old. Oddly enough, I was very thin through most of my teenage years, and very athletic. I played a lot of sports in high school. As I got closer to my senior year, I noticed that I was putting on a little weight. I didn't think much about it at the time. About a year after I graduated, I got married to my high school sweetheart. By that time I had gained over 50 lbs and was at about 200 lbs. I was very concerned about how fast the weight came on. I was also having some female problems too. I went to my doctor and he did several test on me to find out if anything was wrong and the results shocked me! He diagnosed me with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). I had never heard of this before. He told me it was a hormonal disorder and one of the side effects was weight gain. He also told me that I would probably have trouble getting pregnant. My heart dropped when i heard this. I always thought when i was ready i would just be able to have a baby. It took 6 years before we were able to get pregnant and by the grace of God we now have a beautiful, healthy boy. I've tried every diet there is, I think, and nothing ever worked for me. I was 330lbs at my heaviest. I have been blessed with the opportunity to get the band. I've been banded for about 10 days and i am doing great. I am sooo excited about the journey ahead. I lost 13 lbs on the pre-op diet and have lost 16 lbs since my surgery. I know i rambled but i just wanted to introduce myself and see if anyone else has PCOS that has been banded and can tell me about your experience. Thanks for listening! Pamela Banded 9-20-07 330/299/150 :rose:

I hate clothes shopping, and fortunately, I wear scrubs at work, so don't need a lot of work clothes. I tend to do mail order, and have a roomful of clothes mistakes from things I should have returned but never did (one of my postop projects). Fortunately my best friend is a shopaholic who considers it a challenge to find things at TJ's, thrift shops, etc. For her, it's a stress reducer, for me, it makes me want to jump out of my skin. Part of me still wants to hold back some fat clothes, just in case. After years of different diets, and the inevitable weight gains afterward, it's hard to have faith emotionally. Although with the band, I gained some back but not up to my top weight. Does anybody else feel this way?

Still loosing and almost 6 months pregnant. No weight gain yet

I used the preop phase to ease people into the fact that I'm making lifestyle changes. So I told them that I was trying to lose weight by replacing two meals with high protein shakes and having a low carb dinner. I also bought a 64oz water bottle and have been toting around non stop. Since I had my surgery in Mexico I said I was going to visit family with my parents (my step dad is Mexican and his family lives in Tijuana) couldn't be more perfect. While I was there I made sure everyone took plenty pictures of food as well as tourist sites so I could post them on my social media to make things seem more normal. Now that I'm back no one has noticed too much of the weight loss, the few that have I just keep advertising my protein shakes and exercising my will power when they bring in food for employees. I saw someone post once, "No one asked me the details about my weight gain or how I got there, so they don't need to know the details of my weight loss or how I'm getting there" LOL!

I would appreciate if we could keep this thread from being hijacked to a "weight gain challenge". This thread is for weight loss and those who are serious about the challenge. I'm sure all of those in this challenge will agree. -- La Madam on Weight Loss Challenge thread. I replied, "the mini-hijack was just for a few cheap laughs for those of us anticipating a rough week. To avoid offending the serious, we will move these comments to a new thread." So here it is. This is intended to be a thread where anyone can freely vent (I hope) about the challenges to weight loss. Disclaimer: If you do not want to read about people who are gaining weight, people who are worried about gaining weight, or people who may make jokes about gaining weight, do not read further. My vent: I've been losing weight steadily since my last fill, but after three weeks of immobility I'm starting a course of steroids for disc trouble. The steroids make me feel better, but I gain weight.

Ok Ok Ok...Hold on right here Becky. You told me men are turned on by cimmamon and you were looking to get the old man active.lol lol. So I sent a receip that if made right would do the trick. This plan was to get husband active so you could burn off some calories Hmmmmm won't say how. YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO EAT THE CIMMAMON BARS TOO. Suppose since I didn't add the footnote to the e-mail I sent about YOU not eating any will result in me being sued for your weight gain. Ha go ahead. means you have to make a personal appearnce in court same time I do and then I can give you a big hug...lol I made them damn cimmamon bars last week for a church function and was so proud of myself that I doidn't eat a single one while at home. Got to church and couldn't stay out of them. Wife said looks like you eat three pounds of them. Damn thats what I gained this week. She is good.

GE Mom, you are ok. You are building up matter in your colon. DONT go back to liquids because you think you are gaining weight. Please make sure you are getting in your water and your protien. If you are, you will be ok. As far as the port hurting. Where is it? Mine is at my bra line and I layed on my stomach last night and its hurting me now. Think of the last 24 hrs and think if you turned the wrong way or bumped it. The port and the weight gain shouldnt have anything to dowith each other.

Hi there! Nice to see your posts again -=big smiles=- I just wanted to reply about tanning and stretch marks. I know many are against tanning whether it is natural or done in a tanning bed, buttttttt as one who does use the tanning beds and also has the dreaded stretch marks from weight gain and pregnancy I can tell you that it really makes a difference in the appearance of them. Mine are not nearly as noticable when I have tanned. I don't want to cause a debate on the right and wrongs of tanning, but it really helps me.

Keep your head up. Never know it could be water weight gain. Also maybe their scales are different that your wls office too. All 3 of my Drs say I weigh a different amount

HI leenerbups and all, I know this is an old thread, and by now you've had the surgery and I was just wondering...what happened with your extra weight gain? Did they push the surgery back? Did they do it anyway? I, too, have gained weight and was told the same thing - that I can't gain any weight. I sure hope you are still on the board! Can anyone help?:biggrin::ohmy::eek::ohmy: Thanks so much!

Way to go with moderate ketosis!! I am not doing ketone sicks yet, as I know I am not in ketosis yet. I had a much better day today. Not perfect, but I finally feel like I am getting my head back in this thing!! I am still up 5 pounds from what my ticker says, but I am a little encouraged tonight. You know this all started when I was sick and greatly increased my fluids. Well, I noticed tonight that I have pitting edema (swelling where when you push on your skin it leaves an indention) in my lower legs and ankles. So... my weight gain is most definately fluids. I am drinking lots of Water. Here my nursing diagnosis. I think when I had the virus I became a little dehydrated and then my body held on to fluids like crazy. Now that I am well I am expecting my body to figure it out anytime now and release the fluids that it has been holding on to. Sorry if that was too technical, but I am encouraged to think I have figured out what the deal it. (if I am even right??) Anyway, I am back in it!! You guys are the best. I agree with Mamato, it is sooo great to have a support system to go through this with!! YOU GUYS ROCK!!!

Newlife.. Congrats on the pregnancy! just hang in there with the gaining thing.. try to eat healthy and eat small frequent meals and dont watch the scale to closely. pregnancy brings on all sorts of weight gains without rhyme or reason so if you keep track of the scale you may get really frusterated.. theres water weight, doubling of your blood supply, added fat that you body uses to balance your growing tummy.. and lets not forget the placenta, baby and aminotic fluid!! having something in my stomach was the trick for me too.. if i even got close to being done digesting I would turn green!! try to eat high protein things that take longer to digest.. carbs will go right through you and youll have to eat again sooner.. with both my pregnancies I ate a lot of lean cusine type things.. portion controlled and helped me stay full. Obviously you have to eat what you feel like eating too.. meat was hard for me the first 4 months so I ate peanut butter, beans and granola. good luck!! and remember every pregnancy is different!!

Hi All, Thought I would update everybody. I haven't logged in a while because, well, the scales were going up. Yes, even witht he BB. So, yesterday, I went to my Dr. to get an adjustment. A couple of weeks ago, I was too tight..then, when he took some out, I was too lose. UGH! Oh, the fun of the lapband. LOL!! So, anyways, when I weighed in yesterday, it showed a 3.8lb weight gain.:omg: But, the good news...IT WAS MUSCLE!! :whoo: Now, does anybody know how I log that into the BB!! BTW, I have no idea how I gained the muscle. Wish I knew so I could do that again. My Dr. was very happy and is putting me as one of his patients on his website. Great, now I'm going to be very accountable. LOL!! I stilll love my bodybugg and I'm going on 5 weeks of owning it. It keeps me accountable...wether I gain or lose. LOL!! So, I'm back up to 242...but, that is muscle gain. I'll take it.

I know they say not to weigh the first week out because you will be upset with the weight gain from the iv,s I woke up and weighed in this morning at 342.4 and I was 344.9 when I went in on Tuesday for surgery. I pray That I keep loosing like this. Having a hard time with the protein shakes right now it soup. So peppermint tea and G2 again till tomorrow.

Maybe your weight gain is due to your period coming too? I was losing quite quickly but the last time I weighed I gained 2 lbs and it's the same today. Bet when Aunt Flo comes it'll go away! At least I hope!! I HATE Aunt Flo!! Lol.

And I hope he steps up and starts figuring some things out! I am a recent (3 month) PICC line user (November 29 2018- February 26 2019) although I was happy with lessing of my malnourishment symptoms and believe you me, YOU CAN FEEL A DIFFERENCE, I realize now the 1400+ calories it contained slowed my weight loss almost to a stand- still. About a pound or so a month. March 1, so right after -267 pounds , now I do not own a home scale, after ichucked one in the dumpster after it refused work right, long before surgery, when I was trying to lose weight with my diet pills and was getting nowhere fast, bet I am the only person in history to take 1 month of Phenteramine and GAIN 30 pounds! So I only weigh at my PCP and surgeons offices. Drum Roll Please- March 26 2019- 234.6 pounds, my Golden Honeymoon Months may NOT be over- they always you have just so many months of smoother quicker weight loss and then things slow down. This makes me feel better about ME, see I started out in October 2017 with a highest admitted weight of 365+ , I say "plus" because I was so disheartened by how my body was " back-stabbing" my best efforts to lose, I refused to climb on another scale. Figured the the next step would be the Farmers Equity where they weigh out feeds on a massive scale. Went through a bariatric Plan for the second time, quite a story there, went almost all the way , my job was terminated, lost the insurance that would paid it and surgeon's office failed to inform me I could have gone with my secondary which had less stringent requirments and I could have had my surgery, although I was one month short of finishing Plan # 1 requirments, this was August 2015 through January 6 2016. PCP sent me back to that place again after the monster weight gain, went through all their. specifications, jumped in and out of hoops they erected, tried to act righteous, followed their " Company Rules" only to be told in February 2018 their head surgeon. no longer felt any urge to do my surgery, would not permit his 2 or 3 partners to do it either. Yep kicked" right to the curb" after he had raped my insurances of all the monies He could get. I finally got mental closure on it, God says I should forgive the Stupid Sack,of Offal, but I shall never forget! So I transferred to OSU, the place I should have gone to in the first place. Would you believe my PCP sent me to place #1 because he thought it was " Christian- Based" and what a Giant Farce that was! Went through Ohio States requirements, there were a few extras I still had to do, but in consideration of me not filing an equivalent of "Breach of Promise suit" they were forced to release all my previous records with no detrimental observations. And another thing to my benefit , Ohio State actually liked me, pledged to work with me to make my weight loss journey and surgery a Good Thing. And on September 5th 2018 I received the RnY bypass I had been struggling to receive for over 3 years. It will be forever my Wonder Wednesday, my Day of Days when all my mental pain, all my sorrows and my feelings of unworthiness went away.And I am eternally grateful for the second surgeon, he was a better person as well as a more skilled and compentant surgeon than that poor excuse for a Human Being I first encountered. As you may have guessed I have not had the easiest of healings afterwards, I am now 73 and some things just don't heal as qucickly or smoothly as they might were I In my 20s or 30s, but THEY have been with me, supportive all the way! " This isn't working? Okay we will find an alternate way of doing it!"And although I could not have forecast these 7 months they have still contained joys and successes. I am still in IT to WIN IT and the rest of my life will be the BEST of my life. This is a vow, I am seeing Onderland ahead for me, where I can break the 200 pound barrier and in the distance shining like a beacon is my Finish Line, my Victory Lane and I am going to make it THERE! My Will is STRONG, my body? Well it may be only along for the ride but we are going to make it THERE!

Good morning, or is it afternoon already? We are still in the process of moving. We are trying to get the house ready before we move anything in and it's going too slow for me. I wish we could do everything in one day but it's impossible. We work in the evenings after work and on the weekends. We're halfway through painting the interior of the house. We've got a guy coming out to install tile floors this weekend and wood floors next weekend. Hopefully after the wood guy is done we'll be able to move. The hard part is that I'm almost all packed at my current house. I only left some clothes, some towels, bath toiletries, some kitchen stuff. So that means that i'm not cooking and that means eating fast food almost every meal. It's driving my boyfriend crazy. He really doesn't like fast food. He preffers home cooked meals. But no time right now. Luckily we've been trying to make good choices. Salads, grilled chicken sandwiches. It's still bad for you but I try to do the best under the circumstanses. No weight gain but that's because i'm working my tail bone off. I really need a fill... Terry - how you doing on the Chantix? Any more weird dreams? Denise - I would hold off on the fill. Wait one week. You'll probably be tight anyways because of the stress. Sending you a hug! Tracy - Thank you for your inspirational comments. I really needed that today. I felt like poop. Thank you for always being such a cheerleader! Pam - pooped your pants? What the heck did you eat woman? Tracy (Galveston) - I don't know if I told you but your hair looks awesome!! The darker shade makes it look thicker! Your face looks so thin! Kat - How's your head feeling? You going to the doctor today or tomorrow? Let us know how it goes. You've been complaining about your head and your sinuses. Hope it's nothing serious. Sending you a big hug... Ok ladies, I'm going back to work now.