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hi all glad everyone is dong so well. sorry for my "silence" but i haven't made any real progress. i got my 2nd fil feb 27. i'm up to 3.0 ccs in a 10 cc band. not much restriction. weight gain/loss has stopped. ive lost 38 lbs but it has stayed thesame for last couple of months. next fill is april 16th. my port site is very very sore and red. i can only ware loose loose fitting clothes because the port is right on my pants line and rubs it. it hurts to touch it, get hugged, and no way can i lay on that side!! talk to u later, promise to check in more!

Ahh okay I gotcha. Well under the circumstances girlie I wouldn't feel too bad about it. If they didn't put you on a strict "eat x y z" and then gave you something that has a side effect of weight gain then what do they expect! Good luck with everything and don't worry about the hijacking as long as there are no snakes on plane we're alright

The 6-month supervised "diet" really isn't a diet at all...like most people, the doctor is not so concerned with me losing any weight, more of a maintenance type thing, which as a general rule I don't have a problem with. For example: I have been the same weight for over a year and a half with only TOM fluctuations. When I saw my OB/GYN last month for my yearly, when he discovered I was put on Lexapro, he made a point of telling me it was not one he would have chosen because of the side effect of weight gain. So, anyway.. I would have to concur that it did have that effect on me. Prior to that, I was on Zoloft for 5 years and, as I said, since starting on Lexapro in October, I have had the 20-pound weight gain. BTW all January bandsters, Didn't mean to hijack your thread! :smile:

I look in the mirror sometimes and have to take a double take. You may want to get some counseling so you dont gain the weight back. Sometimes still feeling fat can prompt weight gain so be careful. Try and love yourself every day no matter what.

Hey Southern Missy, I had a look at your post and just had a couple of questions (I did not have to do a 6 month preop diet thing)... 1) What is your 6 month preop that you have been on? On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being not so good) where would you say you are on it with how well you have been following the diet guidelines? 2) Is the medication that you have been taken known to cause weight gain as a side effect?

Hello all, I posted this tread in the pre-op forum but didn't get a lot of response, i.e. as far as from those who had to follow the 6-month supervised diet and if they gained and IF they still approved them. Just wondered if any of you had any experience with this... if you don't mind taking a look!! :smile: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f84/weight-gain-6-morbid-obesity-supervised-diet-56652/ I appreciate your input!

Hello all, I posted this tread in the pre-op forum but didn't get response from any that had already been banded. Just wondered if any of you had any experience with this... if you don't mind taking a look!! :smile: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f84/weight-gain-6-morbid-obesity-supervised-diet-56652/ I appreciate your input!

beckmein: I don't have enough restriction to have to worry about chewing well.... that is my problem. But since I know I have to be getting close to good restriction soon, I worry about the next fill before I go away. I have been thinking all day today of scheduling one but keep changing my mind. I know we'll do a lot of walking. Last year we went to Tuscany and ate and drank A LOT but no weight gain bcause of all the walking. It's the hunger between meals that's bothering me. The few days I had good restriction I never felt like I was on a "diet", I just ate a small meal and felt full for hours. I have a "history" of not feeling well on flights as it is. Not sure why, it is not fear, but I have had episodes of fainting (at least three times while flying) and since the band is near the vagus nerve, I worry more about being too tight. I am taking a short flight this weekend to visit a friend in N.C., so we'll see how that one goes first. Thanks for the words of your experience with flying. I am making good choices in food and portion but hate that I'm hungry in between. I'm sure you remember those days! Either way I'm sure I'll have a great trip.

I am on Yasmin as well. I am a continuous use gal.. I take the sugar pills at the end of the pack one time a year, (or so my gyno suggests..) which makes for a short spotty 3-4 day cycle, then I'm back to skipping the sugar pills. Yasmin has been the best for me so far, helping immensely with PMDD, and my skin... Plus no weight gain:)

Hi Sarah:) All is well with the mushies! I am so glad to be able to eat again:) I have gained 1lb, which I expected, getting off the clear liquid phase. I am not back to work until next Thursday, Dr.Trieu has patients take 2 weeks:( I definitely feel good enough to go back though! I have my post op appointment next Tuesday. I am excited to get the okay for work and more activities! Hopefully I can keep my weight down until my first fill. I am expecting some weight gain with the introduction of normal foods, but I would be devastated to gain it all back! When is your last nutritional appointment? It must be coming right up! You will be a bandster before you know it!! Hope everything is going well for you:) ~Kerri

Hi There, Haven't posted this thread in ages! I got banded in manchester in April 2007. here is my story so far.. Lindsey, I feel l this is important to know, as the past year I have heard mosly successful band stories, with people loosing their weight from the get go. Firstly..Five years ago I weighed 10 st 8lbs.. had a personal trainer and a body fat of 20%!!! Seven years ago I weighed 17 stone 3 lbs. I white knuckled over six stone off my frame and went from size 22-24 to a size 12 who could run up stairs 3 at a time! This lasted until I got engaged 4 years ago and then the weight started to creep on. I gained 7lbs the week I got engaged because I 'let my hair down' and I FREAKED out!! NOT FAIR NOT FAIR!! Was my mantra, and I became Very Very angry. I just wanted it gone, I wanted it to be fixed and never look back. It was only a 7lb gain but it drove me to distraction and 18months later on m wedding day I was up an additional stone. In hindsight it wasn't such a disaster, but I was just FED up that my sweat and tears didn't shake that F***ing monkey off my back. In saying that I was BEE-AUTIFUL on my wedding day, and I cherish those photos!! I gained about a stone on my honey moon, bringing me close to 13 stone. I tried getting back on track and tackling the demon again with weight watchers, Motivation weight loss clinics, hypnotherapy and counselling but I was totally defeated!! Fast forward 2 years and I'm at my lapband consultation weighing 17stone 10!!! So,I weighed 17stone 10lbs last year at my initial consultation, followed by a 10 day liquid pre-op diet which got me to 17stone at my surgery date. In the following 4 weeks I lost another stone, bringing my total weight loss to 24lbs in 5-6 weeks. That was it..I did the 2 weeks liquid post op and 2 weeks mushies after that and then went back on solid food. To my horror, I felt I was eating without restriction, BUT as I had not had a fill I knew it wasn't anything to panic about. So, because I fly to manchester to get my fills, I didn't make it over until June for my first fill. I was maintaining at 16 stone but hadn't lost a pound since starting back on solid food. After that fill, once again to my horror I felt no restriction and started to feel quite down that this band was all a cod and I had spent my money on what? This feeling continued and I said nothing to anyone but it was obvious there was no restriction as I could eat anything, and my mam sister & husband were kinda saying.."what's the story?" And i was feeling mortified, but "dieting" to maintain at 16 stone. This continues until September when I finally made it over again for my 2nd fill. At this point I was up 4lbs and embarrassed that I wasn't doing as well as 1..I thought and 2...as well as other peoples tickers were showing on this site. That fill made me feel no different either and I was able to eat Steak, Crisps (my worst weakness) Anything really. WITH THE EXCEPTION of McDonlds or any french fries/ nuggets/chicken gougons.. they were painful and would come back up as a PB.. So hey...I was getting somewhere. But Nope.. Depression..this band wasn't the magic wand I had told myself it was, I was putting too much faith in it, I didn't want to do ANY work loosing this F***ing weight AGAIN..I just wanted to EAT and LIVE LESS LIKE A "NORMAL PERSON" There was my problem, I wanted the band to magically transform me while accepting no personal responsibility for my actions either. After all, all I wanted was not to think about this weight loss thing anymore and for it to just happen to me! So I gave up AGAIN and said..waste of money, waste of time..once again defeated and this is how it is and always will be. My mental attitude was all wrong, I just couldn't face it anymore. So since Sept of last year, with Chips McDonalds Gougons etc being my only restrictions I started binge eating again, and binge drinking and could see my face getting puffier and puffier right before my eyes. In Jan this year my first Nephew was born and it made me face everything again and I decided to come out of my hibernation and contact the clinic again to tell them that I was failing miserably. To my surprise they were saddened for me and that I had gone MIA on them and wanted my over straight away to help me get back on track. So I joined Weight watchers again..weighing in at 18 stone 3lbs (Jesus!!) And went to Manchester that week for another fill. This one was aggressive. For almost two weeks I struggled to get anything but soup down. I am tight. I have hope again and I am doing my damndest to get focused and loose this weight realistically and the band IS Helping me this time. I can't eat much, but I still drink too much, and twice in the last 3 weeks I have somehow managed to scoff 8 bags of crisps in one sitting (but it takes hours instead of minutes) why and how did I manage this when I couldn't even get porridge or scrambled egg down? I just don't know, It was total after drink binge eating. But twice in 3 weeks instead of daily, and suffered the consequences of mush crisps in my neck as a result. I have lost 3.5 lbs in 2 weeks still (Oh wow..big swing..only 90 more to go) But I can't allow myself to think like that. I am now geting water back into my daily routine, cutting down on the alcohol and I am STAYING with weight watchers, and If it means ONE pound a week that's what I will take. I am too long doing this to expect starvation and horrible extreme dieting to be the answer to my prayers. I Have to LEARN to do things differently. For anyone who drives, here is an analogy that describes exactly how hard it is to change being a subconscious/ emotional/ habitual eater. If you drive, that is something you had to learn to do. At first it was difficult, you had to concentrate, you had to be conscious of looking in your mirrors, changing gears and steering. In the beginning you couldn't talk on the phone or scratch your head while concentrating on driving. 15 years later (for me) I can drive, talk (even on the phone), scratch anything that's itchy, change radio stations/cd's all while I'm driving because it has become subconscious. All the driving manuevers have become second nature and I don't need to instruct my self anymore what to do coz I just do it. Now, Imagine UNLEARNING how to drive a car? How can that be done? That is is tantamount to the challenge I have at hand now. I have to unlearn how to do what has always been second nature to me, I have to unlearn how to do what has put me in this situation at the age of 32 and that is not going to happen today, tomorrow or even this year. BUT...IT WILL BE DONE..however slowly, it will be done. I will never white knuckle it again. I will never loose 7 stone again only to gain it back, my will won't let me which is why my will has given me this whole past year of struggling to learn this lesson. What have I learned? I have learned to begin UNLEARNING. THAT is my weapon and that is what I will do. SO, I won't be slim for my nephew's christening in May, or for my birthday or for Christmas..But I will be UNLEARNING. AND I WILL BE MY OWN TEACHER, I will stumble and fall, but I will learn to get up and walk on. I will never be perfect but I will be smarter, wiser and happier. There is my experience. The Band IS great, but it is not plain sailing for someone like me. It is helping me definately, no doubt about that now, but it is not as strong as whatever it is inside me that has been yelling for the last year to get my attention about how to do this once and for all. That is my epic, my story, and I apologise for the MASSIVE post but it was to show that not everyone has the same experience with the band and that ultimately the issue is MUCH MUCH bigger than a pice of plastic or food a diet. This is coming from someone who's communion dress was let out because of weight gain at the age of 6.

Well, long story short. I started my diet in October. I also started Lexapro in October. As of yesterday, I have officially gained 20 pounds since October. Anyone see a connection?? Unfortunately, I cannot even credit the Lexapro with making me feel better as it is not...I am SO depressed right now. Is it even possible insurance will think about approving me with weight gain on the 6-month supervised diet??? :scared2:

I have confirmation from a barium swallow that I have a big slip. I have chronic heartburn and weight gain :thumbup: They are unfilling my band tomorrow to see if that will correct the slip, if not, they will have to surgically correct. Just be aware, symptoms can be so different from person to person. If you don't feel right, call your doc.

Lyrica causes weight gain. A friend of mine is on it and she says it makes her very hungry. Elavil did that to me. It makes me crave sugar like crazy. ambien for me is the only thing that has no side effects. BBK, are you going to get an unfill? You could easily add a little bit of food back into your diet to stop losing. I wish I had that problem! I am struggling to lose 1 lb.

I was on Yasmin for several years and it was great. Never had weight gain or any major side effects, other than mood swings at first.

I've had many, many Ah-ha's over the years, but I guess the most serious one was in 2000 when my mother was felled by a stroke, brought on by her diabetes and lifetime of obesity. I spent a couple of weeks down in La. helping my dad adjust to her being bedridden. It was entirely too sobering to realize that even after having lost 100 lbs a decade earlier, it still took two or three people to roll her over to change her bedding. And that they did not make Depends large enough to fit her. I went home and told my husband, "I have seen my future and I do NOT want to go there." I immediately started trying to get approved for bypass, but failed to accomplish that (Not enough documentation, the ins.co. said!). Had some moderate success with WW, but eventually gained that all back. Then in Dec. 2006 I had an episode with my heart and was diagnosed with diabetes. The meds for both added to my weight gain and made me SO lethargic. I literally felt like I was dying a little each day. My cardiologist shocked me when he said, "It would take you two to three years to lose the weight you need to "IF" you could do it and your history does not make that look likely -- Simply put, you don't HAVE two to three years!" He referred me to Dr. Miranda, who's office staff was AWESOME and they did all the tough, insurance stuff FOR me. Here I am a year after my first consultation, banded, down 72 lbs and off of 8 out of 9 meds I took before surgery!

Wow 4 hours of gagging is a lot! I usually gagged for an hour and no more. I agree so much with the dr. I know that it is a fine line and right now I am able to eat more then before, faster and drink if I choose. However I am doing my best to control it! I also understand now that my habits didn't change as much as they should have so I am working on that too. Now that I am more open it is easier to go back to old behaviors,,,I am getting a little more put in in another 3 weeks and this time it will be a little bit at a time,,,I never want to irritate my stomach like I did the last 3 months,,,yes I have also felt the food in my stomach. I actually get a shart pain in my neck when I eat too much,,weird huh? It is scary to see that many of my habits were forced to change when I was so overfilled but that I now have to rely on myself for control a little more although my intake isn't nearly as much as it was pre band. I think this is a good lesson for us all! I am happy to hear that you unfilled as the long2bfree is right,,,dehydration is not a means to lose weight and that Water just comes back and then we feel dread again at "weight gain" I need to drink more fluids anyway;,,,also dehydration is self injurous to say the least. I have done that too! Good luck and thank for that helpful info from the dr. Susan

so when u say everything has gone according to plan does that mean u haven't had any complications? i've read alot of people on here with vomiting and not losing weight ,gaining weight. i am a lil concerned. i kinda think some people r probably not eating rigt or not using their bands well.not really sure what to think.

You know what, you have a really good point. I am just so afraid that I am going to fly off the handle with the whole last supper syndrome and totally derail my progress. Choban had me paranoid when she said that she would cancel the surgery for any weight gain, but with 12 lbs. gone I think I am safe. And thanks for reminding me that dispatching my brother for his bacon violation would make me miss my date, lol. You talked me down, thanks Lady! :sneaky:

Sadly as my weight has gone up and down down and up .. my boobs have remained the same. Only time I lost anything in the boobs was when the plastic surgeon took me from a III to a C/D and lifted them back up where they belonged. My weight has yo-yo'd so much since then with kids and weight gain I expected them to grow .. they didn't .. so for me, I don't think loosing this weight will matter much in the end. I think they will remain the same. Will loose band size but that is really about it I think.

Just thought I'd give you some of my thoughts on this. I'm someone who is covered in stretch marks. They are all over. I'm hoping that after I loose weight they might not be as noticable, I'm not really sure how they work, but I'm only 20 so I'm hoping my skin, even though its so incredibly stretched right now, will be able to tighten back up. However, a couple of my friends are having babies/already have had babies, so I've gotten to see a lot of their stretchmark experiences. My friend who had a baby this summer was tiny and had no stretchmarks at all pre-pregnancy, and after pregnancy, she has one tiny little one on her stomach that has since disappeared. So it seems that pregnancy can affect people differently than weight gain. A couple of my other friends have had no problems with stretchmarks and pregnancy, but most of them are in their early 20s, so it might have something to do with age? Anyways, I'm rambling, haha I really don't know what I'm talking about and have never been pregnant, I just thought I'd share some of my friends experiences. Good luck with everything!! Allison

I want. . . Peace of mind. To eat to live, not live to eat. A healthy fit body. To be stable with my weight; no more yo yo dieting. No extreme up and down weight gains and losses! To reduced or eliminate my medications. World Peace!!! :sneaky::regular_smile::regular_smile:

Wow, you ladies are very impressive with your exercise. several years ago I did a step aerobic program with a DVD and it did shape me up, but I just ate all the calories I burned. Problem was when I injured my knee and had surgery, exercise stopped and the same intake of food did not. Big weight gain and still have almost daily knee pain. So while I want to get back to my 3 mile walk, which I enjoy, I don't want to use heavier exercise for weight maintenance. It's just not a reliable source of burning calories for me. But it sure makes losing weight harder without it. I don't know how women with a family fit it all in! Have to admire your dedication!

If you are serious about the 'ring' or a diaphragm you need to have them rechecked if you loose weight!!!! Your insides will change and shift with you as you loose/gain weight and they will become less affective. You might want to look into the IUD (the new one has rave reviews I hear) or the BC patch. Talk things over with your gyno, inform him/her that you are getting banded and will be loosing quite a bit of weight and you want birth control that will go with you through it all not one you have to worry about. The other thing with BC pills is they do cause some (it is minimal) weight gain, so again you might want to look into a internal device. Again, I reiterate, TALK to your doctor explain what is going on with you, see what he/she recommends for you as you loose weight and your body starts changing.

Steph I hope you will be able to eat at least something again soon I did not realize you were into big brother that is my fav reality tv show I watch the big brother after dark even I like ryan he is my fav so far jill I am proud of you no weight gain you must be doing something right Okay guys I am almost embarssed to tell this story but here goes so last night I decided I was going to start working out again so I set my alarm one hr early to get started I have not worked out since I picked my son up at the hospital 4 months ago well needless to say I lasted 5 mins on the stepper and I was worn out talk about out of shape I used to do over one hr on that thing I guess baby steps work