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I too was banded on 9/21.. Yesterday was the first time i really felt hungry. I have added 2 protien shakes between meals. I also bought some creamy Soups, they seem to fill me up more than regular broth base soups. Campbells has a large variety of flavors, so you don't have to eat cream of chicken all the time. I know they have more carbs,but since I am still on liquids I am not getting any other carbs. I am also worried about weight gain before my first fill, which isn't until 10/21. I have lost 41 pounds so far and don't wont to gain it back, but without some restriction I don't know how much longer I can keep it off.. Good Luck to you and don't be so hard on yourself..it will be ok..:drool: God Bless

Best Wishes Sheena!!!! Now you said you had the band removed? What happened? And what form of wls are you planning on next month? Goodmorning, The last 20 months offered me nothing but fill/unfill:drool:...I could never go more than 3 weeks with a fill..which for a while would feel great and one day I would just wake up it no that it was yet again time for an unfill....sometimes this was a trip to the ER in the middle of church, sometimes I could hold out a day or two, sometimes it was an emergency call to the doctor to fit me in to do an unfill...It was progressive gradually. Below is a summation of my lapband experience from implant to removal, I have indicated the symptomatic issues that were experienced which led to the unfills. I did not indicate that the first 2 unfills were resultant of having been too tight and having flown. Lots of doctors and other bandsters will tell you that this is impossible, but I found research that speaks to a few bandsters being impacted by flying if they are already too tight--that indeed was my experience. :thumbup: Although I had these issues, during the process, I did not see them as complications--I loved my band. :tt1: I would advise everyone to be your own medical health advocate, challenge the opinions, research--become your best expert on yourself and this life transforming process, document your process...it was my only comfort in tracking my progress and ultimately seeing the regressive pattern. Dont just leave it up to the doctor to know and track everything with your progress/process. Everytime I got an unfill, I was asking is this normal, should I be concerned. By year 2, I figured that I was going to regulate the amount of fills that I was getting b/c what I had learned from year 1 was that the doctors had been too aggressive in my fills administration. From that I saw progress, but each time it was short lived..it did not make sense (levels that I had been at before were now too tight). Pay attention to your body, monitor your progress. At my last unfill, I was adamant in being concerned about the steady pace of fills/unfills/deflates...so much so that my doctor had to admit it too...and then we began discussing the option of getting an endoscopy done in 1 month....needless to say we didnt have that time...as 2 days later I had been admitted to the hospital and the emergency call had been made to remove my band. :regular_smile: At those fill appts., insist on knowing how much of a fill is being administered and knowing what your total balance is. Document this every visit. It cant hurt..it can help in the accountability process in the long run. During those periods of unfills being needed, I would lose 5-8 pounds over night.:tt2: Even if I could do this all over again, I know that lapband would have been my first choice & vertical sleeve my second. At the time of my decision I had not heard about vertical sleeve. I am hoping to have the vertical sleeve gastrectomy next month. And if that dont work I will go back for the second stage of the sleeve; however, I doubt if I will need it. I lost 46 pounds with the band & hope to lose another 30 pounds. I am hopeful!:w00t: November 16, 2006--surgery performed; weight: 247 December 2006--weight: 225 January 3, 2007--weight: 211; first fill administered--1cc in 4 cc band February 2007--weight: 215 March 2, 2007--weight 207; 2nd fill administered--1cc added--total 2cc in 4cc band April 23, 2007--weight: 204; 3rd fill administered--1.1cc added--total 3.1cc in 4cc band May 23, 2007--weight: 198; 1st unfill administered--2.3cc removed---total 0.8cc in 4cc band (acid reflux, esophageal spasm, stoma occlusion) June 26, 2007--weight: 209; 4th fill administered--1.2cc added--total 2.0cc in 4cc band July 10, 2007--weight: 212; 5th fill administered--0.8cc added--total 2.8cc in 4cc band August 2007--weight: 212 September 2007--weight: 212 October 4, 2007--weight 212--2nd unfill administered--0.5cc removed--total 2.3cc in 4cc band October 30, 2007--weight 212--6th fill administered--1cc added--total 3.3cc in 4cc band November 6, 2007--weight: 206--3rd unfill administered--0.5cc removed--total 2.5cc in 4cc band (acid reflux, esophageal spasm, stoma occlusion) December 2007--weight 215 Year 1: 6 fills; 3 unfills; weight fluctuation range: 247-198 weight loss: 49 pounds; weight gain: 30 pounds ************************************************************************************************************************************ January 22, 2008--weight: 217; 1st fill administered--0.8cc added--total 3.2cc in 4cc band February 12, 2008--weight: 213; 1st unfill administered--0.5cc removed--total 2.7cc in 4cc band March 2008--weight: 217 April 29, 2008--weight: 216; 2nd fill administered--1cc added--total 3cc in 4cc band May 6, 2008--weight: 207; 2nd unfill administered--.02cc removed--total 2.8cc band May 18, 2008--weight: 204; 1st deflate--(acid reflux, esophageal spasm, stoma occlusion, dehydration) May 27, 2008--weight: 204; 3rd fill administered--2.5cc added--2.5cc in 4cc band June 26, 2008-weight: 204; 3rd unfill administered-.8cc removed--total 1.7cc in 4cc band July 2008--weight: 204 August 19, 2008--weight: 209; 4th fill administered--.5cc added--total 2.2cc in 4cc band September 15, 2008--weight: 201; 2nd deflate--(pouch dilation, esophageal spasms, dehydration) September 17, 2088--weight 201; lap band removal Year 2: 4 fills; 3 unfills; 2 deflates; 1 band removal weight fluctuation range: 217-201 Max. weight loss: 16 pounds; Max. weight gain: 9pounds

I've never been on an anti-depressant but my mother is on Prozac and is doing very well with no weight gain. Interestingly, Prozac is now being prescribed for people with rheumatiod arthritis so, if you have that condition, you might see an improvement in the pain from that condition. I hope the Prozac helps you and that you feel better soon.

I agree with the others ... find a replacement outlet for the emotions. Just following my surgery I went through a pretty rough patch with family illness and a (separate) death in the family. My normal go-to would have been food. However, someone here recommended that I find some other way to ease the emotion and I started to walk more and more. It was a GREAT outlet for me! I would put in my earphones and just go until I either physically couldn't (shorter distances closer to my surgery) or else I felt the weight start to lift off of me. Ultimately, the fear of weight gain or even making myself sick from eating too much after my new sleeve was enough to help me to re-focus on something other than food. Best of luck to you!

I was concerned about a weight gain as well. They told me it was because of the IV given during and after the operation.

To be honest, I feel that the US should allow the sleeve surgery at lower weights than 40 BMI. I struggled with weight gain for so long until I was over 40 BMI and finally qualified plus another 6 months of pre-op weight program. My doctor feels the surgery is the best treatment for obesity and it is sad that the BMI has to be so high as I now have several friends stating they wish they could have surgery and yet they are a few points lower in BMI. Hopefully in this case the doctor will make the best decision for the patient, however I do think that 40 BMI is too high as the threshold. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Portion control, and getting enough Protein are necessary to maintain weight loss. I know that if I am not getting enough protein, my weight loss stalls. Try not to get angry at yourself; the scale will fluctuate. You're doing the right thing to look for the reasons and the solution for the weight gain. Follow the rules, measure everything, exercise, and the weight will come off... Best wishes...

My reflux was extreme with my band, so I removed the band, then had the sleeve put on 2 years later...NO RELFUX! I can sleep without junk coming up my throat--it is sooooo nice, . I agree that the sleeve has very little stretching, and very little ability to stretch--I know serveral people (most in my family) who have done gastric and the weight gain is one reason I went with the sleeve this time...it just made more sense to keep the digestive track intact as much as possible.

I personally don't believe you can stretch your sleeve. But I do believe that eating the wrong foods and eating when I'm not hungry can lead to weight gain. After 2+ years, I still only eat about a cup and 1/2 of food per meal, but I can eat again within an hour. So it's up to me to recognize when I'm truly hungry and when I want to eat out of boredom or just because it will taste good. Here is the article about possibly stretching your sleeve: http://obesitycoverage.com/weight-loss-surgeries/gastric-sleeve/gastric-sleeve-will-my-stomach-stretch And here is the 5 day pouch test, which is sometimes used to get back to basics. http://www.5daypouchtest.com/plan/theplan.html

Could I have avoided years of weight gain and the pain of surgery by eating a little moo-moo? I realized not only do I not get enough Protein in my current diet on WLS, I never ate protein! My food intake was Pasta, pizza, and smoothie \ in that order. And maybe popcorn daily 100 calorie pop. I always stayed under my calorie count and I walk 3 times a week, but the scale was broke, it would only increase!! Now that I'm forcing myself to eat these (sorry not to offend) yucky animals snd chalky shakes, the scale seems to be fixed?? Ok I had to vent realizing I hate protein and miss my love of carbs, but they no longer taste the same. Sent from my iPhone using RNYTalk

Omg i am not the only one i am 10 months sleeved and i found out yesterday i am 6 weeks pregnant. I am 41 and now i am worried about weight gain and keeping the baby healthy. As well as making sure of keeping my sleeve small.

You have time to lose the 5 pounds. What are you doing to lose? Perhaps you can add a Protein shake as a Meal Replacement for 1-2 meals and do some like exercise like walking. I'm sure you'll be fine. Most insurance companies/surgeons is more concerned with weight gain opposed to weight lost. There could be a number of reasons why you haven't lost so Im sure they will factor that in. I was told if I didn't lose as long as I didn't gain I would be fine. You'll do it. Let us know how things work out for you. Good luck.

haha...that is so funny. there are some days where I have no desire to eat at all, and my kids are like.....mom whats for dinner? the good part for me is that my kids are old enough to cook some things on their own. most of the times I manage to feed them just fine. the thing that is really hard for them to deal with is that I am not buying junk anymore. they are going through withdrawls. haha I used to spend about 600-800 a month on food for a family of 5....now I spend about 300! my grocery bill is definatly better now, but they are like.....we dont have anything good to eat. I say....um yeah there is tons of good stuff to eat, just none of the junk anymore. my husband has involuntarily lost 20 pounds since my surgery. lol he was not overweight at all btw, but now he is at the low end of healthy weight for his height. my kids are not losing any weight though...as a matter of fact my son has put on 30 pounds this year! he isnt fat, but i am always on him about how much he eats, and exercising because i dont want him to have the same problems with weight that I did. he is 13 now and going through puberty, and that is the only reason im not totally freaking out about his weight gain. good luck in making sure your kid doesnt starve lol

I'm really glad you got some Fluid removed. It sounds like you were definitely too tight. Here's a really great article Jean McMillan wrote called "Tighter Isn't Always Better". She explains why a too tight band isn't only dangerous but how it can hurt weight loss and even cause weight gain: http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/161269-tighter-isnt-always-better/ My two year band anniversary is coming up in January but I personally haven't had any of those issues. I tend to be extremely cautious about my band and not over filling it. Thankfully, my surgeon is too. Best wishes.

I had to quit for the surgery as well or my surgeon would cancel and they make you sign an agreement that you would quit and that they would test you for nicotine and cancel surgery if you had it in your system. My mother died from complications of COPD from years of smoking and I was sounding a lot like her so I had a double reason for quitting. I quit in February of 2008 and can honestly say that I have no desire to smoke again. I used the prescription Chantix for about 2 weeks and did'nt like the side effects so I basically did it on my own. You have to stop altogether, not even a puff and once you get past the two week mark it bets much easier. You will have enough metabolic changes in your body after surgery that you don't want another one with quitting, so I would do it before surgery and get your body used to being smoke free, it takes about 3-4 months for the metabolism to stabilize after quitting (my doctor told me this is why the weight gain after quitting, but it eventually evens out). Hope this helps! Think of it - THIN AND SMOKE FREE IN A YEAR:tt1:!!!

I have the same type of under rib and sternum pain and pressure with upper stomach gas. So tired of pain and bloating. I'm happy to say after six years my band is being removed and a sleeve done on 2/14. My band the first three years was ok. Lost 140lbs basically by eating chicken and beef soup and exercising. Soups were the only way I could get real solid protein. Then years four through six have been hell with pain and weight gain. The band isn't a real solution in my opinion.

I admit I lost focus over the summer and even had a weight gain, amazing how easy it was to slip back into bad habits! I had a .75cc fill earlier this month and am mentally & physically back in the groove and it feels so good. Truthfully it is a huge success for me to stumble but then get back up and continue. Anytime I have lost weight prior to being banded as soon as I stumbled I gave up. So that is probably what I am most proud of!

I have a screwed up thyroid and my endo suggested the surgery as well as I was just not able to get on top of the weight gain. Both the endo and my surgeon said mine won't be the type that will go away after surgery but I would go down in dosages and so far they are right. Surgeon did say a lot of people are able to come off the meds. I was on 3 thyroid pills a day (T4 and T3 in the am and another T3 in the afternoon). After close to 4 months, they re-tested me and my levels have gone up so they just took away my afternoon pill. I'm hoping it doesn't slow down my weight loss because I felt absolutely fine on the dosages I was on...guess we'll see this week. Good luck to those still waiting for surgery.

Thank you everyone. I am trying not to get my hopes up so im not disappointed in case it doesn't happen. But I want this so badly. I need this. My BMI is 42 i think. Im 5'6", 300lbs and im 43 years old. I am the result of too many starvation diets with weight loss and weight regain, with a little more weight gain each time. Im an emotional eater and im Very emotional apparently! I wasn't always overweight. I was 118lbs when I graduated high school at 18. But i was into drugs and alcohol back then. Nothing major as far as drugs but i was more into partying than eating. Then i quit partying- quit smoking, drinking and doing any kind of drugs. I went from one addiction to another... I found out that I liked food! Gained about 70lbs the first year. And on n on from there. Then every time i lost weight , which i was only able to get as low as 145-150, i got pregnant every time. Anyway, here i am. People treat you so different when you're overweight! I went from being able to have any guy I wanted to being completely invisible. Ive been on dating sites but of course i only use head shots for photos, never ever full body pictures. And i get an unbelievable amount if response however, it only makes it that much harder when I meet someone who seems decent through conversation but then when I finally arrange to meet in person, i never hear from them again. One guy actually made efforts to overlook my weight but finally he said "your butt is just too big!" Lol. I do have a huge butt but... so now im in a strange relationship with this guy i met in a dating site. We really got along via texting and when we met in person he didn't seem too concerned with my size however, he made it known that we were just friends. That if it developed into anything then fine. But in the meantime he was still going to remain on the dating sites because he wanted more 'friends'. Well we then became fwb. But he maintained that he still wanted more friends ( he moved to my area from 2 hours away and just got out of a 25yr marriage). Anyway, we have spent every single day together and we do everything together from grocery shopping to going to concerts ect. Here it is over a year later, he treats me like he lives me, very affectionate and always wants me around but verbally he still says that we are best friends with benefits. ( the benefits aren't that great either considering my size) but he's still on the dating sites and i just feel like ive wasted all this time on someone who doesn't love me and probably never will. He says he doesn't want a relationship now, which I understand, and he says that im not as financially stable as him and i have kids who are still at home so im mot the kind if woman he would want bc i am mot able to travel and just up and go places. I felt like we have become very close over time and i cry about this all the time and even though he says its not, I feel like it's mostly my weight that is the problem. Its definitely a problem for me. But he says weight is nothing, that weight can be list and he encourages me to exercise all the time. But I constantly feel like im not good enough and im constantly emotionally hurting. I am pursuing the wls for my self, bc its what i need! But whether or not to bring him on this journey with me, that is the question. He is really my only support right now. I dont have a very good mother or father and i have very few real friends. I feel like i need him but on the inside I feel im just being used by him, i am the only one he knows in this area and as long as i am around he isn't going to pursue dating so, not sure what to do. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Most of what your saying is very common post-op, even the weight gain. I encourage you to go your doctor visit and get some answers straight from the horse's mouth. Good luck!

I have Aetna, amd they require three months supervised diet, with no weight gain. I use this stuff called Teami tea, a colon cleanse that helps with a pound or two. I went through Irma this past month and had gained weight. So four days prior to weight in I went on a full liquid diet and drank the Teami tea (double dose) and lost 1.2 lbs from my previous months weigh in. I suggest you do this and get weighed again. Now I'm one month away and trying so hard not to binge this last weigh in is so important. Good luck to you. Keep us abreast of what's happening! Sent from my SM-G935P using BariatricPal mobile app

I have not but only about 2 months out of surgery. Steroids will be the culprit to that weight gain I believe. I would suggest quit eating chocolate and bisquits (Are you talking about what we Yanks call cookies?)

Hello, I am thinking that this may be normal; I had my lap band procedure done 12/21/09 and had been losing until I returned to work and was given the clearance to eat 3 small meals daily. I have started to gain weight:mad: Has any one else experienced this? I have been stopping eating when I feel full and am trying to make good food choices.

I, too, had a lapband erosion and was terribly sick with peritonitis. I’ve never been so close to death but my weight gain since the removal has me scared into getting the sleeve. I am currently going through a six month supervised diet, etc. I am looking for surgery after the first of the year.

I wouldn't eat and drink at the same because this will cause you to consume more food and then weight gain. Why have the surgery and waist time and money if you are not going to make life changes and do right. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using the BariatricPal App