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I had the procedure on September 27th and since then lost around 70 pounds.. but I recently checked my weight and in the past 20 days I gained 5 pounds. I feel my diet has increased and I haven't been exercising. Is it possible to start gaining weight so fast? Or is it just fluctuating? Im really stressed.

I got lucky (maybe). I had a fill on the 22nd so I had to be on a liquid diet for 3 days post fill. I was able to enjoy Christmas dinner, but could only have a little. But it did help with the holiday weight gain.

Hello Peeps...I need some assistance please. Pardon the scene setting here, but i want to make sure that i project my situation correctly. I am married to a wonderful man, kind, romantic, loving and honest. We are very fortunate to have established a level of trust and communication that neither of us have experienced in prior relationships. We are blessed with each other, a beautiful child and relatively good health. We've been together for a long time and look forward to an active and fun filled retirement together. So, all sounds good, right? It is, except for the fact that over the past four years, I have been on a steady path of weight gain. I was banded in 2006, lost 60 lbs and then, over the ensuing years, vacillated between gaining/losing the same 20. In 2009, my band did the big slip and I had surgery for it to be replaced, both surgeries were good, free of complications. So, long story short (too late, right?) I continued down the path with my 2nd band and kept trying to find my sweet spot/holy grail that would allow me to eat w/out barfing, sticking, choking or gagging. This banding stage has been less than enjoyable. Fast forward to now..... I have been completely unfilled for approximately 3 years and as a consequence, weigh almost as much as I did when i was banded the first time. also, I still have issues with stuck food, port pains and general eating/digestive problems. So here's my deal....I must get this band out...MUST...MUST..MUST..before I do myself any more damage. Clearly, it is not helping me to lose weight, and it is definitely contributing to poor eating habits. However, prior to removal and revision, I have two obstacles. 1) my BMI is a sliver below 35 and my co-morbidities are depression, cholesterol, and general joint aches/pains...nothing that insurance considers that detrimental, and 2) my husband is 110% against the thought of me undergoing additional surgery (beyond band removal). He is worried about the risk, the mortality rate, complications from the surgery and the lifestyle changes that are required after someone is sleeved. I see all of these things as valid concerns, but concerns that each of us have to weigh prior to making any decision about wls. So, here is what I need help with. Has anyone had a really great spouse, someone who gets that this is an individual choice and is not their body, but is still very apprehensive about their partner getting sleeved? Surgery that is "irreversible" is scary, true, I get that, but life down a path of increasing pains and medical complications (not to mention the pure social inhibitions that go along with being overweight) is not a life I want, but is the path that I seem to be on. Any advice? Any similar situations? Anyone.....????

Yes..It is calories in vs. calories out. I will not lie, when i first went to solids...i gained a little. I freaked out, but was assured by my Dr. that it was very common and it would go away quickly...that my body was in a "starvation mode" and when it got the food it wanted to hold on to it. He was right (yay) and the weight gain came off quickly and i have been losing pretty steadily since. i can honestly say, I too don't totally keep track of calories, but i do know for sure that some days I really only get about 800 calories in me. Bad eating days (near TOM), it maybe even less. With the solid food, that little bit keeps you full longer because it takes much longer to go from your pouch to your lower stomach and so on. Liquids/mushies can pass right through...so in fact if you ate solely sliders, ate until you were full, and ate anytime you were hungry, you could cause yourself to GAIN weight because you could eat more. i could eat a whole tub of ice cream right now if I really wanted to because it is going to melt and pass right through the band...defeating the purpose. i hope maybe this makes sense :scared2:

Hello everyone, it has been a long time since I have been on here, I was banded in 2009 and haven't lost done to goal. The doctor I had went out of business a year after I got my band. I really haven't had any problems with the band but found the weight was not coming off. I found a new doctor last year and he did a fill under fluro and found my port is tilted as well as the band. I had a endoscopy yesterday in which he stated I had a non functional pouch. I am worried to death right now. My weight gain started about six months ago. I am right back where I started. I have searched and searched to see what a non functional pouch is, no information found, Is this something to worry about? We spoke about revision prior to this appointment but I am unclear as to what this is means. Please if anyone has any information I would appreciate some insight. My next appointment is not until the 17th. I am really worried about all of this.

Hello Everyone! I am very excited to begin this journey with the vertical sleeve. I am new to this site, but since my decision to begin this journey of weight loss—via surgery—I have come to love and appreciate the stories that have been shared on this site. That being said, it was inevitable that I too would become a part of this community. My story begins with my childhood. I grew up in a small south Texas town with little to do and way too much time on my hands. My parents owned a small convenient store/bar-b-que restaurant. I was ALWAYS there and I was ALWAYS eating. I had endless amounts of chips, dips, sodas, juices, candy, ice cream, nachos, tacos, and bbq at my disposal. Kids called me Fat Kathy, Little Piggy, or chanted “Boom-baba-BOOM!” as I walked by. I was very insecure and unhappy. I turned to vomiting to purge out the excessive food I would consume. As I neared my graduation year and stretched out, along with the bulimia, I finally began to lose weight. I also became more active: athletics, long distance running, and weights. My size varied from a 7 to a 10. Even though I was a lot thinner, I was not happy. I was obsessed with my body image and the idea that I was fat. I continued my destructive path once I graduated from high school and entered college. My obsession with my body image fed into my obsession with working out, eating right, purging food that wasn’t right, and consuming weight loss supplements and laxatives. I worked out in the morning with a morning 3-5 mile run; throughout the day when I taught aerobic classes (I worked for the university’s intramural sports center), abdominal classes, and toning classes; in the evenings I strength trained to build muscle. Even though I eventually reached an all time low of 130 pounds and a size 4, I was still convinced that I was overweight and ugly. My then-boyfriend-now-husband was not allowed to touch my stomach or look at me when we were intimate because in my mind I was disgusting. Nobody could convince me otherwise. When my husband and I eventually married and conceived our first child, I finally stopped with the bulimia, laxatives, and obsessive working out. However, the consequence was weight-gain-with-a vengeance. I was a size 6 when I found out I was pregnant, and a size 14 after I had the baby. When I had my second baby and struggled with his behavior as an autistic child, I ballooned into a 16. Then my third child came along with heart failure and the need for multiple heart surgeries. The stress from the situation aided in my weight gain and size 18 figure. Now that I am a mother of four, I vary between an 18 and a 20. Contradicting to what one would think, I shed many of my insecurities. I think my experiences with my children helped me to overcome such pettiness and taught me to appreciate life and all the good it has to offer. Life is too short, it is here one minute and gone the next and it would be a shame to live it—or waste it—being miserable. I am now a confident woman. I love who I have become, I feel beautiful, I love to dress up and look good; I love my life, husband, and children. My children come first and I love to be active with them. I like feeling good and throughout the years I have even gone so far as to start up aerobic classes in the community to preserve that feeling. However, despite my attempts at staying active and eating healthy, I have never been able to shed the weight. I have yo-yoed up and down for these past 10 years; and it seems as if the further I yo-yo up, the less I am able to yo-yo down. I am on this path that I can’t seem to get off despite my efforts. I am still very unhappy with my weight. I have my moments when I get depressed and I feel disgusted with my body, but I don’t let me human emotions get me down too much and I try to stay positive. An aunt of mine, who has suffered from obesity all of her life, told me about her upcoming sleeve surgery. I was surprised and awed that she would venture into this process, but her enthusiasm and praise for those she had met who had had the surgery, convinced me to look into it. Based on my weeks-and-weeks of research, information gathering from seminars, and testimonials from people like you all, I have to say I am so EXCITED to take this step. I know that I can eat healthy because I love healthy food—I just eat too much and too often; I know that I can stay active because I already am; I know that a surgery like the sleeve will help me on my journey to portion control; and I know the surgery will catch me when I attempt to fall off by over eating or eating the wrong things. My first consultation is on April 24th. My biggest fear is that my BMI will fail to be at 40 because I am at the borderline of qualifying with no questions asked: 38.6 BMI at my last weigh-in. I am embarrassed to admit this, but in the weeks leading up to my first consultation I have acquired a very ugly diet. I feel awful physically, but I fear if I don’t gain those 8 pounds they will not find anything wrong with me—health wise—and I will not qualify. THANKS FOR READING MY STORY! WISH ME LUCK!!!

OuNewt: Best wishes to you for removal and success afterwards. I didn't update after my initial surgery. I got a postop infection ten days after surgery and was back in the hospital on high doses of intravenous antibiotics for four more days. I woke up with a temperature of 104 on day ten, so I called my surgeon. He had me go to emergency room. They did a ct scan and found that I had infection inside. My kind surgeon was on vacation, but he came to see me twice in the hospital, driving down from Maine to MA each time. He felt badly about the infection. Not sure how it came, but probably from that gross band that had been accumulating food and germs in my stomach. The band actually looked black in the EGD pictures - gross! So, here I am 8 months later with a lot of weight gained. I'm pursuing the sleeve now. Will have to wait and see. I hope that all goes well for you. Please keep us posted, as I'm one of those crazy, caring people that will be worrying about you and wondering how you're doing. Take care and be well. Sue

Have you been testing for metabolic disorders like thyroid, etc? I've heard that stress can cause you to have cortisol build up and that causes weight gain. There is also some disorder caused by a tumor on the pituitary gland. What theories does your doctor have???

As a OB/GYN health care provider, I can tell you that the Implanon that you are using is fine if you are happy with it. It does have a small risk of weight gain, about 10 lbs over a 3 yr period. The only method I would NOT recommend would be the DEPO. It alters the way carbs are metabolized and can really put weight on. Increases appetite as well. The NuvaRing is excellent and would be a great choice as well Does not matter if you are obese. If you know you are not a reliable pill taker, then don't even consider. You do need to find a new PCP.

I've always been overweight, I have also been on NuvaRing for 10 years, not once has a doc or wls doc said its a cause for my weight. They also say I should continue to use it after surgery! I had the lapband with it and with revision I will continue to use it! I love and swear by it! Almost every method has to list "weight gain" as a side effect because they have hormones which can effect a woman's weight. But check it out, keep an open mind and find a new supportive pcp! There are a lot out there!

Okay, so my name is Kamie and I am in Tucson, AZ. I live with my boyfriend of four years and my younger sister. I have been overweight for about as long as I can remember, but I gained about 80% of my unwanted weight during the last 4 years of college. I am now at 265lbs which is actually about 20lbs less than what I thought from awhile ago. Since I am only 5'2'' this puts me at a very high BMI number of 46.8! That is really scary to me and has led me to the option of Lap Band Surgery. I have tried and tried at everything I can think of. I have done weight watchers, weight watchers online, personal training, nutritionist, the 4-day diet, LA weightloss. I usually lose substantial weight and then I miss a meeting or a payment or I overeat...you know how it goes. The things that have brought me to this crucial moment are recent changes based on my weight gain. I can't shop at regular stores anymore...I hate shopping online and don't find clothes that fit my style at the "plus size" stores. I wear out my bras and underwear more quickly than ever. I am having trouble being active at all anymore. I am usually tired. I feel left out of society. My dad just recently had a heart scare at the age of 51. Needless today I am ready for a change. I want to be healthy and find a better way of life. More than anything in the world I want to stop my osession and constant thought of food. I know that the Lap Band is only a tool here and I hope to find others along the way. Well, I have my consultation with the surgeon on Monday, so 4 more days. I will keep you posted!

Dr. Titus Duncan is a lead surgeon in this field; based in ATL. Teaches other docs around the world. Also, I live in Roswell. We might be neighbors :-) I'm contemplating the LapBand. Have full confidence in Duncan; I'm just worried about the psychological aftermath. I LIKE eating. I LIKE drinking LOTS Of water. But psychologically, I'm now terribly depressed due to recent 40 pound weight gain, and I already needed to lose 40. I'm now 240 pounds. female.single. Not good.

My doctor is fully supportive of keeping my fill during pregnancy EXCEPT, if i am having bad morning sickness and am vomiting, he will want to take liquid out. He says that vomiting is really risky and can cause slippages and since i won't be able to have floro (no xrays while pregnant) he won't be able to check to see if the band is ok. If i do have some taken out due to morning sickness, then i can always have it filled back up one the morning sickness passes (2nd trimester or so). But i am with you on wanting to have my fill to help me control pregnancy weight gain!

@anl1990 Don't let the above post get you down. I happen to disagree with it. I'm a sleeve. got to goal in "six months" transitioned to maintaining in six months. I'm maintaining four 1/2 years out. I would have been fine if it took me a year or more. I'm also not the only sleeve that contradicts @James Marusek opinion. What do all surgery types have in common? Does not matter what type of bariatric surgery you have. We all lose at different rates. Anyone of us can experience weight gain. Surgery success depends on following plan and changing old behaviors.

I agree with tmf above me , maybe drinking water with your meals contributed to your weight gain. Why cant u just drink before hand, out of all the things people miss i cant imagine drinking with meals getting a higher prority than ones health and wellbeing ..

I am so sorry you are feeling discouraged. Are you eating processed foods? The reason I ask is because processed foods will always slide right down because it already has gone through a phase of digestion it will not stay in your pouch. Take a look at your diet are you really not satisfied after eating some skinless chicken breast, vegetables and sweet potatoes for example? For the first year I battled with head hunger I kept telling myself I was really hungry but I wasn't I just wanted to eat. But please keep on going in the right direction no matter what your scale says doing the opposite will only cause weight gain and you already know that.

That is great a lil bit cheaper huh? Well good luck hope you are inpressed with the office the staff are great!!! I go today :crying: not that I am scared of the fill but of the weight gain I have no restriction

I have the Mirena. While it hasn't caused weight gain there are a lot of other side effects. I suffer from sever migraines which the Mirena made worse. It's been five months and I still suffer from breakthrough bleeding everyday along with horrible cramps when real period comes. I plan on getting mine removed after my surgery. If it wasn't for the Mirena rendering my migraine medication ineffective and worse I would keep it longer. Give my body more time to adjust to it.

Hit send accidentally. LolShe said that there may be a little tweaking of the dosage but there should be no reason why I can't continue my meds. We tweak my meds every now and then anyways. I also have been going to therapy for 4 years. I highly recommend that you start some form of group or one on one therapy. It really helps. I also think that you are probably going through withdrawal. On top of everything else. I'd definitely talk to your bariatric team. Tell them your struggles. You have to get back on track. This is the window you have to lose the most weight. Yes you're challenged. Don't use it as a way to rationalize why you are not on plan. Use it as an extra boost to get THIS DONE. I'm struggling with losing weight to get surgery. I have a whole list of reasons why. Some legit and some excuses. Talking with my therapist she pointed this out to me. I've been working on my mental part of this journey. Identify the excuses, realize I am in control. Figure how to overcome my legit problems. Example. I have asthma the air quality where I live sucks right now because of the harvesting of almonds. I can't get outside much. But I can take my rescue inhailer and get my butt to the gym. Please get back on plan and don't let this chance slip by. As someone who has depression, anxiety and bipolar II I'm wondering why on earth they'd take you off meds like that. I'm assuming you're in a withdrawal state - there are a lot of newer antidepressants that aren't bad with the weight gain. As stated above, a good therapist really helps. I see one every week. But, I'm not surprised you're having a hard time if they took you off meda like that cold turkey. I'd definitely see a psychiatrist and a therapist for help. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using the BariatricPal App

Nope I don't mind at all! I have lost a good bit of weight (gained about half back now) and I think lap band would be best for me. I know how to eat right I just need a little push. My husband is rather young and close minded and also needs to loose about 300 pounds. he knows folks who have had exceptional results with GB and that's really what he's interested in. there is a guy in our neighborhood who is banded who is HUGE not because LB does not work but because he does not follow the rules.... that's what my DH sees... the failure of it. besides we've had THREE doctors suggest GB for him. (his internist, the doc that took out his Gall bladder (and had a heck of a time) and his orthopedist. since we are different people with different opinions

That is a very true statement about losing the focus during the third year. It has been happening to me a bit lately. While I try and eat as I have during year 2 (very clean), a lot of carb snacks are sneaking in. And I am not talking about uber bad carbs, but like some extra fiber one here, some bare naked granola there and a ritz cracker over there. Pita chips are getting to me also. I really like those Stacy pita chips and can munch them on and off during the day if not careful. No dessert type stuff though or candy. No weight gain because I exercise every day, but don't like at how I am gravitating towards snacking without a second thought. It is almost impulse and automatic and seems to pick up when I am under a lot of work stress (which has been more often than I like recently). I need to double down on my commitment towards a healthy diet to support optimal exercise before this snacking gets the best of me. I just do not say no to temptation as well as I used to before year 3. Maybe I am getting tired of it...

I didn't need any history of weight problems for Aetna. All I need was the NUT visits, doctor letter, psych eval, and no net weight gain in the 3 months. Are you sure you need the weight history?

Hi! I was sleeved on Aug. 22. I have bipolar. I haven't been sleeved for long and, if anything, I'm still really tired all the time. You raise an interesting question though - I am anxious to see what the future holds w/r/t weight loss and my bipolar. I know you didn't ask for this advice, but one more thing I will add, FWIW, the only medication that EVER worked for me in terms of stopping the cycles of up and down is Lamictal, which is a mood stabilizer. It is generic. And it doesn't cause weight gain. I'm throwing that out there to the extent you end up finding that you're "too high." Good luck - nice to know there are others on this journey!

I can understand the opening poster's frustration. She is a young working woman with a very, very high BMI. Because she is seriously obese she feels that her health issues should be fixed and that this should be covered by her health insurance plan. Because she is supporting herself by working and is also paying into a health plan she feels that she is behaving in a responsible and adult manner and should be able to benefit from this health plan. I agree with her. I paid for my own Lap Band surgery (up here where I live our provincial plan does not cover band surgery) and I was 200 lbs when I arranged to have it done. I am 5'6" and so didn't look all that big compared to some of the other women who were sharing the waiting room with me. This made me feel a little bit embarrassed initially but my weight gain, however, had been a steady post-menopausal gain and I was on a one-way street if I didn't have the surgery. This is a fact that perhaps the opening poster did not understand until she had it explained to her. I think that the other lower BMI folks who have posted on this thread have done a fine job of providing explanations as to why they, too, needed the surgery. I also think that the opening poster has indicated that she understands this and thus it is time to stop flaming her for her initial remarks. It's time to show her the sympathy and support that we all deserve.

Hi there I can't advise whether you would get NHS funding as I know every area have their budgets. Please go and see you GP who would be the best person to speak to in the first instance. As Jacks says - keep on doing your research, most things are covered on these forums and they are really helpful. Please don't think that the band will change your life and transform your world - you are the only person that can do that, with or without the band. Any weight loss I am sure will boost your confidence, but from your post it does seem that you have other hurdles to get over too. If you made one positive step to do one activity away/out of your home, that could possibly make you feel better. I am in no way patronising you as I don't know what it is like in your shoes. But due to weight gain, I have become less active, a couch-potato and the only trips out I enjoy lately is to somewhere to eat! I wish you well and hope you will be a bit more positive about life soon. Best of luck with your research, you at least have made a positive step by posting on the forum here.