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Hello Everyone, Was looking for some insight. I have been having weight gain and some left side pain and have found out that my lapband tubing is disconnected and there has been a slip, I'm most likely going to convert. Does anyone know what aetna requires before a conversion? Thank you!

Is transitioning into maintenance what you thought it would be? Hecks NO. For some reason, even though I was apprehensive about it, I thought it would come easier. I mean how hard is it to stop losing weight? I was a pro at it, based on previous experience. In my case, I didn't get to ease into it so I think its part of my problem. If I had done this the way I originally planned, I would have started easing into maintenance (i.e., increasing cals, etc) BEFORE I got to goal weight, so it would have been more of a slowdown to stop vs trying to stop something in already in cruise control dead in its tracks. I really don't want to lose any more weight/get smaller so I have slight anxiety about stopping the weight loss immediately. How easy has it been to “break the weight loss mode rules”? I think Im still adhering to my "weight loss rules" actually. I mean, I still weigh and portion and track my food, eat protein-forwardy, drink lots of water, wait to drink after eating, take my vites, refrain from eating past 7pm, limit carbs, stay away from pasta/rice/bread/added sugar, etc. The only thing I'm doing differently now is I increased my carbs a smidgen and I allowed myself a couple bites of a full-blown dessert the other day (though I paid the price for it, I think, by an unfortunate bout of barfing). Oh, and allow myself more liquor Did you ever think you would struggle to eat more after being obese? OMG. the fact that I am having trouble eating MORE is a mind-trip. The fact that I actually think I'm too small is unbelievable sometimes. But I think, at least right now, this struggle is a lot easier to handle, physically and mentally, than the struggle of being obese. If I had to choose between the two, I would take this current struggle over that one Every. Single. Time. Do you have some fear/anxiety about food, continued weight loss or gain? I do have some anxiety about the continued weight loss. I really do not want to lose anymore, and I am putting pressure on myself to find my "level" asap so it stops already. And you know what, I also have some back-of-my-mind anxiety about future weight gain. Geez. I think I need some time to get used to where I am right now and trust that I am doing the right thing and I can relax. Honestly, the weight loss was pretty quick and I don't think I've had enough time yet to "acclimate". I still see my reflection sometimes when I'm just walking around and don't recognize myself. I probably also have an unhealthy fear of carbs. May or may not be a good thing.

You summed it up perfectly. The pre-op is preparation for the post-op, post-new mindset...This is not a drill, this is the real deal. If the weight gain is fork gain and not medical beyond our own control gain, then we must re-evaluate. What's in your tool box???

My weight continues to drop after I started working out. The weight gain could be muscles which in turn will lead to more weight loss and a leaner look.

im having a revision done at the beginning of august and want to make sure this time, i ge fit right. my weight gain was mainoy do to me but partially due to the firdt surgeron mistakes. i want to make sure this sticks and im on the right path mentally. mentally i was not in the right place last time. any thoughts or advice to keep me going?? Sent from my LM-V405 using BariatricPal mobile app

Speaking for me, I'm done with the losing (I'm currently in an attempts to STOP the weight loss). And since my surgery is still months away, I hopefully and getting a built-in "stable" period, which btw, none of those I spoke to had any requirement of. Interestingly, all 4 of them seemed to be more concerned (if anything) with continued weight loss rather than potential weight gain as something that would affect the results of the procedure.

I am new here, I haven’t been on a public forum in a long time (and for a reason) but I thought it might be helpful to write out my bariatric surgery journey as best I can. I don’t know anyone who has had the surgery with chronic illness, disability, multiple medical conditions, etc. let alone anyone with M.E. (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) which is a kind of immunodeficiency. I’ve lived with this from childhood and also battled with my weight longer than I care to remember. This is long and hard to talk about without going into intense detail. I wasn’t not diagnosed with M.E. Until I was in my early twenties. It was a long road to get there and led to many questions and many other medical conditions down the road. At some point my weight skyrocketed out of control and I was at a loss as to what to do. I was diagnosed with metabolic disorders but meds made me sick and doctors don’t discuss weight. They only vaguely agree that the metabolic disorders cause weight gain. And at most prescribe risky weight loss drugs. At some point I was just too sick to know what to do. The reality is I always will be sick. It was easier to eat carbs when I didn’t feel well enough to tolerate much food. I was always a clean plate person and hate waste. My weight grew to over 215lbs and my body couldn’t take it. I needed to do something even if it took every ounce of my being. I didn’t know then what I know and doctors know now about M.E./CFS. But I studied holistic health and nutrition, trying everything to no avail. I ended up trying a combination of low carb/Atkins and calorie counting (weight watchers points) slowly I lost weight (I was 5’ 4” then 5’ 2” I kept losing inches due to degenerative disc disease and arthritis in my spine , I’m now about 5’) I got down to the lowest I’d ever been at 123lbs. But it crept back up by 10lbs. But I had to accept it. I started having trouble eating certain foods and feeling very sick. I had some major stress events happen, several surgeries on my feet and tendons, and also Major surgery (hysterectomy) I wasn’t eating the best I could for reasons I couldn’t control. Eventually my weight hit 160lbs about when I moved with my mother to a new state. I was on a beta blocker and reduced my calories further and did strict low carb again. But reached about 134lbs. I couldn’t sustain it. Not that long ago, months, my sense of time is terrible I can say what happened but not the order or time. I fought as hard as I could and would go on nature walks until I learned more about the birds and became a birder and took to loving photographing them. I went as often as I could and it wasn’t often enough. I found out the hard way that Myalgic Encephalomyelitis causes something called post exertional malaise. Doctors only now are starting to understand it and it explains a lot. Activities from simply writing out this message, taking a shower, making a meal to exercise, make my medical condition worse and cause lasting damage that I lose bits of my self. And doing no I enjoy hurts like a punishment. My weight started a sudden drastic climb from 134lb to 160+ and I went to doctors and specialists hoping for an answer why. And then again it continued to climb to 180lbs. I had thought about bariatric surgery the first time but wanted to do it on my own. But this time I couldn’t, my body just wasn’t burning enough calories and how little could I eat without getting too sick. I was eating healthy the same portions as my mother, almost the same meals, I prepared us lunch almost every day and she is the same height but at most 100lbs. It was fight for surgery or nothing. The first time I saw a bariatric surgeon he talked at me and didn’t listen, my weight was slightly below BMI to qualify with comorbidities, i had plenty. But nothing acceptable by my insurance. I had just had to have surgery for another problem and could hardly eat. But I kept gaining. And I gave up on that doctor. I forgot to say I found out at some point that the reasons some foods made me sick was my gallbladder and surgery was recommended so I decided if I have to have that then I should pursue bariatric surgery since recovery is quite similar. eventually it reached 200lbs and I was on the edge of being nearly 40 BMI. I decided to see another endocrinologist about my medical conditions. She couldn’t help me since the meds make me too sick and I explained how I eat and count calories and yet my weight skyrocketed. I was about to quit when I decided to say I was fighting for bariatric surgery. She said go to Cleveland clinic. It’s a far distance from me and I needed medical assistance for rides there. But I got in to see Dr. Szomstein and he right away was ready and willing to help me, I was a hair from 40 BMI at the first appointment. He didn’t quite understand all my medical conditions if at all but he knew what to do. He said I should have RNY Gastric bypass due to severe GERD and I was thankful for that since it would reduce calorie absorption as well. I was almost not expecting approval from my insurance. I had months of my doctors noting my efforts to lose weight and letters from the endocrinologist and surgeon. They had me go for pre op tests and medical clearance. I still didn’t expect anything. i was in target when my mom and she got a phone call. Scheduling surgery in two weeks and for me to start the liquid diet that day. The surgery date was April 29th. I was so unprepared my gastroenterologist had wanted me to have a colonoscopy before surgery and that didn’t happen (he wasn’t happy with that) I knew I was possibly in for hell with this, but it was either surgery or give up. surgery day I was like this is easy. But I hit a bumpy road. Without going into too much detail right now. I didn’t expect it’s impact on my chronic illness. Waking up from surgery was like a long tunnel I couldn’t get out of. I was partially aware of things around me during the entire surgery just sped up like a weird dream. In the hospital room when most people get up and walk, my body couldn’t move at all. And when I tried once I crashed hard. Every chronic pain in my body was screaming all at once in the hospital. I was having severe pain in my chest, they blamed on gas I knew it wasn’t. I was struggling to breathe and needed the oxygen longer. My surgical drain kept getting full too fast. The catheter hurt. I high pain tolerance and yet this was slamming me everywhere all at once. They tried me on liquids by day three and I just wanted out. I got home and had trouble breathing and was very weak. I struggled to do laundry and get groceries. Then I started spiking fevers. My body doesn’t react with fever when it needs to, my lungs are sometimes too weak to cough when I need to. My temp went over 102 at night then dropped to low grade by morning. I ended up being told to go to the ER but I couldn’t get to Cleveland clinic. Long story short it was another long three days in hospital, pneumonia, acute uti, and critically low potassium. My temp was normal. They pumped me with potassium and antibiotics but had no concept of pain control and knew nothing about post bariatric surgery diet of protein drinks and liquids. They brought me a regular meal for breakfast. By day three I wanted out. I left with a diagnosis of Aspiration pneumonia, and esophageal dysphasia and told to see an ent (who then told me to see a neurologist) and a incidental finding of a pelvic adnexal mass that I am see my euro/gun about. Swallowing is painful, the pain in my chest never went away it waxes and wanes and gets out of control painful at night. I am still mostly liquids. I was supposed to start purée some time ago. I tried some things that were palatable but the first tiny bite I got Nauseous and couldn’t push it even sitting drying to consume either liquid or purée took nearly an hour and the purée was just not working. I don’t regret it yet I do yet I don’t. I’m still trying to get answers to some things. Other things I won’t go into detail now. This is much too long. I saw the doctor for follow ups twice. This time he ordered a upper GI fluoroscopy, and then a endoscopy. The first is this Wednesday. I’m struggling to get in at least 50 grams of protein a day. I lost around 27lbs but am in a five day stall. I think that’s as much as I can describe for now. But my one issue no one ever addressed is no nsaids aka Ibuprofen for life. I took it three times a day to take a bit of the edge off my chronic pain. My muscle relaxer doesn’t do much and it’s impossible to grind and swallow tablets. Thankfully diphenhydramine comes in sleep melts. But I have no pain management now. And I can’t function to walk as much. I try to keep on my feet as much as I can to at least do what I need to do. But now when I crash each day I crash hard. I got extremely sick doing laundry when I had to do three loads and threw up more than once. (I have a bit of ptsd when it comes to throwing up) but this is too much to write here and now. I just am finding myself alone in this, my mom can’t quite understand how it is. And I don’t know anyone else who has chronic illness that has had gastric bypass surgery. I’m not worried about food, I can make my mom a meal and not want to eat it. Actually my taste is nonexistent. I had trouble with it prior as well as my sense of smell. But so much just tastes nasty and bitter. (Didn’t help I ended up with nasty oral thrush I can’t shake) i feel weird putting this all out there. So I hope that sometime say can relate to someone somewhere in some way. christine

Paraguard copper IUD 12 years no weight gain

This topic is still on my mind. FB has reminded me of where I was a year ago and I am able to look at myself and see that yes I was morbidly obese. When I compare a picture from yesterday's 15 mile training walk to a year ago when I was still recuperating from a total hip replacement, I can see what was obvious to everyone but me. I never talked about my weight since it was such a source of embarrassment and pain. Thankfully my husband sensed this and knew to never bring it up. When I did he was always supportive and even joined me in eating healthy. He has really helped me when it comes to the mental aspect of losing weight. For example, a few years ago we went to an amusement park with our middle child and friends to celebrate their high school graduation. They took off and my husband and I made our way to a roller coaster. When we sat down and I couldn't get the bar to lock, I was shocked. I was mortified when I realized that I had to get up in front of all those people waiting in line. I could feel the judgey comments and disparaging remarks being muttered under their breath. My husband just got up and said this ride hurts my back - let's get out of here and go to the casino. Yesterday, he asked if I wanted to go back to the amusement park with the kids. While I told him yes, I also explained to him that our daughter wouldn't be able to fit any more because of her weight gain, even though she has a different body shape ( I am an apple and she gained hers in her bottom half and our daughter needed a seat belt extender on the last air flight). I explained that I don't want her to have to go through the same experience and how much I loved him for the way he reacted. I have vowed to keep taking pictures of myself and looking at myself in the mirror when I step out of the shower. I can see the flaws but then I remind myself that this body has been through some trials and allows me to do some amazing things that I couldn't have done a year ago. When the BMI chart had my doctor telling me I need to lose another 71 lbs, I laughed. Here is why: my job requires me to lift 50-100 lbs. I have been doing this for over 23 years. I have some muscle on me under all the fat. I showed him a picture of my coworker who is 5' 8" and weighs 180 lbs. She doesn't have an ounce of fat on her but is considered overweight, borderline obese. My surgeon understood that I will not be going by his chart. I will continue to follow my program and do the activities I love but I will not stress about getting down to a number on a scale. I want to be healthy and active, not sickly and weak just to say I can fit in a size 2 jeans. With my personality and competitiveness, I could easily fixate on that but it wouldn't be healthy for me. I don't have to have an "all or nothing" mentality. It can be one day at a time, making a healthy choice for that day. Because soon all those tiny individual choices add up to positive changes.

Just weight gain

Is it only weight gain? or do you have any other side effects as well?

OMG! I had no idea! Here I was pushing protein, protein, protein! I just checked my MyFitnessPal log and sure enough I've been getting 90+ for the last week. So I googled what you said about too much protein and found: Weight Gain Your body can only use a certain amount of protein each day. If you take in too much protein, you may gain weight. Each gram of protein has 4 calories. If you take in 100 grams of protein, but your body can only use 50 grams of it, your body will store the extra 200 calories' worth of protein as fat. Doing this daily can cause you to take in 1,400 extra calories per week, resulting in a weight gain of almost 2 pounds per month. How to calculate how much protein you need? Here’s an easy way to calculate approximately how much protein you need: Take your weight in pounds. Divide that number by 2.2. This is your weight in kilograms. Take that number a nd multiply it by: 0.8 if you’re a regular healthy active person, 1.0 if you’re an intense athlete.

If you tend to freak out about sudden weight gains invest in a scale that measures body fat as well. These things might not be very accurate but when you gain weight and see a sudden drop in body fat at the same time - you're retaining water.

Hi all, I’m having a revision surgery done at the end of this month. I had the sleeve back in May 2016 and from that I have severe GERD/acid reflux as well as weight gain. Has anyone else had this revision done? Any thoughts...?

This surgery isn't new, it is the first part of a duodenal switch which has been around for a long time. A couple of facts about weight - Men generally have male pattern weight gain which gives them a spare tyre rather than an hour glass shape. After menopause women don't have as much oestogen so they accumulate weight around the middle whearas previously they may have gained it more around the hips. You can't predict or influence where you lose weight - the flat belly diet etc are all a load of hype for the purpose of selling books. It will come off where it wants too. You can influence your shape by targeting muscles in certain areas You can also reshape your body with plastic surgery if you can afford to Most people that are obese or morbidly obese have large stomachs to start with so even after weight has been lost it stands to reason that there will be an accumulation of fat and or loose skin in that area.

I've had the IUD for 10 years. I never felt it contributed to my weight gain. The extreme weight loss over the last year hasn't caused any problems with it's placement either. I highly advise you to have it placed by a GYN doctor and not a general practice physician though. It's more likely to be improperly placed by a GP than a GYN.

Hey ya'll. I have a question. First, some background... My whole life I was very small. 115 lbs was my heaviest (I'm 5' 3.5") and I always thought I was too small. But that's who I was. When I was 19 I was diagnosed with Bipolar II disorder, and put on Seroquel. Anyone who knows that drug knows that it's known for weight gain. WELL, I gained 100 lbs in just over a year. At first I was excited at the weight gain because I finally had some curves. But then it got out of control. I ate healthy and weight just poured on. I didn't (and still don't) recognize myself in the mirror. I guess my question is, do you think when I go down I'll recognize myself again? Or will the body dysmorphia stay the same and I won't feel like my old self. I'm not planning on going down that far... I'd like to be around 145 or whatever I think looks good. Any insight would be appreciated.

I also said “ I will never gain it back” and had a 16 pound gain my third year. (I worked it off) Weight gain can mess with your head. You caught it before it became a major regain. You can get this back down. Some of us can have a piece of cholate and stop. I know myself, I keep temptation out of the house. Maintaining I indulge within reason. Some of us do the pouch reset (liquid progression to real food) It’s a good way to restart healthy habits again. Some of us go back to bariatric basics.( Real food stage, Log food and stay within your weight loss calorie/macros, hydrate and exercise) Others change diet plans. (keto, intermittent fasting, vegan etc) Its finding what works for you. Whatever diet you choose; Logging has been the tool that helped me get the weight off. Here are a few threads that may help: Weight loss group challenge to keep you motivated. https://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/425758-june-2019-challenge/?tab=comments#comment-4781757 If you choose intermittent fasting here is a group of people that can help https://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/419144-intermittent-fasting-daily-menuresultsaccountability/?page=173&tab=comments#comment-4780742 Mental Weight loss battles thread. https://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/425354-the-importance-of-doing-the-head-work/?tab=comments#comment-4776743 Wish you the best. Glad to see you back on the forum.

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! For me only my immediate family know as well as 3 close friends.

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!

For sure! Thank you for the heavy pocket/ weights advice. I managed to weigh in at 199 after lunch, lol. We are waiting on results from stress test, then will put in for approval and get a surgery date for July. I need to weigh in no less than 198 and no greater than 200 (initial weigh in) lbs day of surgery which is really going to be tricky with two days of liquids prior to surgery. She said weigh every day and be very aware of weight gain and loss. They will not approve if you are above your first weigh in or if fall below 35. Where in Mexico are you having it done? i hope you have someone going with you. I have watched several youtube journeys of people who went to Mexico. They seem to have all had a good experience. Best of luck!

For sure! Thank you for the heavy pocket/ weights advice. I managed to weigh in at 199 after lunch, lol. We are waiting on results from stress test, then will put in for approval and get a surgery date for July. I need to weigh in no less than 198 and no greater than 200 (initial weigh in) lbs day of surgery which is really going to be tricky with two days of liquids prior to surgery. She said weigh every day and be very aware of weight gain and loss. They will not approve if you are above your first weigh in or if fall below 35. Where in Mexico are you having it done? i hope you have someone going with you. I have watched several youtube journeys of people who went to Mexico. They seem to have all had a good experience. Best of luck!

It’s been a while omg hey guys! Ok so I could never understand before and after having surgery how people gain back their weight and sometimes more. I was sleeved over 2 years ago and now that I can eat whatever I want I completely understand the struggle. I still till this day can’t eat full meals like I would have a little bit of everything and just pick at the plate until I’m done which takes like an hour or two honestly, my problem is snacking. I can eat everything from snickers to Doritos and it’s just so annoying because having the self control is more like mind control. I always tell myself I don’t need it yet sometimes I still end up getting candy or a salty snack. My lowest weight has been 140, I recently went through a bad break up in April. I was 143 pounds and now I am 165 pounds. I’ve been eating junk food like crazy and even though it’s stress eating I need to find other ways. Can anyone recommend health Snacks? In the mean time I’m going to try and “reset” my sleeve. I called my surgeon about this a few days ago before I made this post (what a great guy he actually listened to me for a good hour) and he told me to start over from liquid diet to soft foods then reg and to keep going to the gym. Start: 316 • 12/14/2016 Current: 165 Lowest: 140 & here’s pic

It’s been a while omg hey guys! Ok so I could never understand before and after having surgery how people gain back their weight and sometimes more. I was sleeved over 2 years ago and now that I can eat whatever I want I completely understand the struggle. I still till this day can’t eat full meals like I would have a little bit of everything and just pick at the plate until I’m done which takes like an hour or two honestly, my problem is snacking. I can eat everything from snickers to Doritos and it’s just so annoying because having the self control is more like mind control. I always tell myself I don’t need it yet sometimes I still end up getting candy or a salty snack. My lowest weight has been 140, I recently went through a bad break up in April. I was 143 pounds and now I am 165 pounds. I’ve been eating junk food like crazy and even though it’s stress eating I need to find other ways. Can anyone recommend health Snacks? In the mean time I’m going to try and “reset” my sleeve. I called my surgeon about this a few days ago before I made this post (what a great guy he actually listened to me for a good hour) and he told me to start over from liquid diet to soft foods then reg and to keep going to the gym. Start: 316 • 12/14/2016 Current: 165 Lowest: 140 & here’s a pic since it’s been a while