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Thank you so much ! Well don't lose hope. The extra weight I was carrying was the reason I had trouble for years getting pregnant. We tried for sooooooooooo long and then I lost some weight and bam it happened! Can't say I had any complications. Will say I was watched carefully. In my 3rd month found out had gestational diabetes. So I was sorta of labeled high risk. My diabetes was controlled with diet. <~~ Which I really watched and I think that was the reason for the low weight gain. I wish you well and thanks for the wonderful response

Hi I'm ArtistNic and I am new to this site and had the Gastric Sleeve surgery 4 days ago. I have sleep Apnea, High Bloodpressure, and was diagnosed Diabetic two years ago, but only stayed in the diabetic range for 3 months because I had started Medifast. I had lost 90 lbs in 5 months on MF and was feeling great. I was about half way to my goal and got complacent. I maintained it for a year and a half and was having trouble refocusing because I never felt good... I had been struggling with pain in my bladder. I had been to all sorts of doctors and I had a hard time describing what was wrong with me. I had pain, frequency issues, and difficulty emptying. After about 6 different doctors and lots of painful tests I was diagnosed by a Urogynocologist with IC-Interstitial Cystitis. The problem is there is no cure. You can control the pain with diet and a medicine that causes weight gain. The diet it total crap!! I couldn't eat MF food anymore because of the soy and the artificial sweetner. I had stuck to the diet for the first 3 months and got the pain under control but I put on 40 lbs in 3 months. That caused me to spiral into a deep depression and feeling of futility. All my dr's then started telling me to get weight loss surgery. That had never been an option for me because I knew my insurance wouldn't pay for it. Well I am two weeks away from my 40th birthday and had the sleeve done last week. So I am getting a new body for my birthday. I figure I have eaten virtually everything I wanted these first 40 years and have felt miserable and unhealthy, now for the next forty I want to not consern myself with food but enjoy my health and live life. When I approached my husband about having the surgery I knew he wasn't going to be crazy about the idea, so I told him. The surgery is like buying a nice used car. Well I want to live longer than a used car and I want you to be able to ride me longer too. LOL The surgery went well, the only thing that was really difficult was the gas that had gotten trapped in my shoulder. That was the worst pain I can remember. It was very difficult to walk that first day. And that night i kept raising the bed up more and more cuz being reclined made the shoulder hurt worse. I remember from 1-3 am praying with each breath that the next breath would be less painful. I tried to breathe deep because I knew it could help release the gas but gosh did it hurt. When I sat up to go to the restroom the next morning it shifted and the pain was gone. All that was left was a slight ache for 2 days. That morning by noon I had walked the four times around the floor and was released by noon. So day 4 of Clear liquids and am up to 40 oz of Protein so far. Hoping to get 60 in today. Using the unjury powder in decaf coffee and broths. I like it better in hot liquid. I am ready for this journey.

La Madam, Wow, I had no idea that Paxil would do that. I was never diagnosed woth OCD so never took medication. I did go through a bad weight gain with steroids though. I always thought that they were kidding me about being OCD, but I actually think they may be right. I am glad I am going back to work soon.

I know the feeling, it truly makes you wanna skip the whole process, but when you think about light at the end of the tunnel you're reminded why you started this journey in the first place. I can go on and on about water weight, muscle vs. fat to explain the weight gain and as logical as it is it doesn't make you or any of us feel any better when the numbers on the scale go UP. A week and a half go, I got on the scale, log my weight, had my band adjusted ate properly, exercised 3 days out of 7, got back on the scale the following week and had gained 10 freaking pounds. So trust me when I say, I feel your pain. I encourage you to hang in there, keep your head up and keep doing the right thing and it'll all pay off in the end.

I did not have a sudden onset of memories, as you had, but have very vivid memories of my childhood. It is tramatizing in both instances and yes these issues are tied to weight gain even when we do not know it. I experienced molestation, rape (twice in one month), physical, emotional and verbal abuse starting at the age of 4 until the age of 15. Ironic that my weight problems began at 15.. something to ponder. You are not alone. You are not to blame and you will be ok. I too have eaten and pushed down all emotions. I am not yet banded and do not know what I will do when there is nothing to stop them from surfacing. Keep us posted on how you are doing. As you are here for support, others will find support in following your journey.

Essentially, everyone has said what I would say so I thought of skipping this thread, but I also know that it helps to hear from others. In addition to "ditto" covering most of it, let me just say that PCOS (and with it, insulin resistance, fertility issues, etc.) and weight gain/obesity are conspiring bedfellows. PCOS issues will make you gain weight, weight gain will exacerbate PCOS issues. It's a vicious cycle - one I hope to break with my weight loss. My periods are so few and far between (my friend Charlie calls it "natural seasonale") that I sometimes forget women have to deal with that every month. The good news: Now that almost 40 lbs are gone in 5 weeks or so... I have a period! Also, my blood sugars are completely normal... without Actos, without anything but the band supporting my new eating habits and exercise routines. My A1C was 5.9 pre-band, borderline diabetic. I went through months of hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia waves. 5 weeks, no more. The band is the best thing I did for my PCOS and related issues... even if the weight loss is first and foremost, the results and affects on other issues is reason enough.

Thanks for all of the replies. I am seeing a small weight gain. I think it might be that I am walking 2-3 miles per day and maybe i'm turning on some muscle growth. I am a big strong guy by nature and gain muscle weight real easy. I guess I just need to watch what I eat and keep walking.

I'm so discouraged - I had my surgery on July 26th. On the morning of my surgery I weighed 259. Today (2 days post op) I'm up 7 lbs to 266. I know that they pump a lot of Fluid into you during surgery, but I think that would have dropped off already. I don't feel puffy and I was well hydrated when I went into surgery. Has anyone else had this same experience? I was on liquids for 7 days pre-op, and I'll be on liquids for the next 3 weeks. I had my hopes up for a big loss over this period, but maybe I'm being unrealistic. On a positive note, the surgery went great and I feel pretty good. I'm tired and a little sore, of course.

I have been banded since October of 2007. I think that I am qualified to answer this question because I have not lost 100% of my excess weight. I am not a size 2 like I hoped I would be. Expectation not met. I won't make excuses, I eat right, and I exercise. But my weight loss has a serious twist: I am bipolar, and as such I take a massive amount of weight gaining medication. (6000 pills a year.) Having said that I am totally pleased with my weight loss. I continue to lose weight, but it is VERY slowly. (1 pound a month, and I earn that pound!!) My surgeon is thrilled, because I have managed to lose 71% of my excess weight. Right on!!!

Hi Micki. Your honesty will serve you well on the next leg of your journey. So many of us get stuck, and digging out of old behaviors we thought we had conquered can be disheartening. They say with alcoholics, one of the goals is to fall off the wagon for shorter periods of time each time. For us, when old behaviors crop back up, we shouldn't be surprised. We spent a lot of years cementing them into our brains. The nice thing about the band is that it will essentially allow you to be a laggard for awhile without that rapid weight gain we USED to get when we screwed up. Catch your breath for however long you need to, and when you are ready, get back to work. List the basics of living with the band, and figure out what you want to tackle first. Keep a log of your calories for a few days and see what bad stuff has snuck back in. This is all about how we learn to live permanently with new behaviors, and sometimes it's hard work. Don't kick yourself. It's just all part of it for some of us. I had a stretched pouch. I went in for a fill and was already full, but she could see from the fluoroscope pics that my pouch was bigger. She says it happens from things we do wrong, or even from doing nothing wrong. I'm very restricted in the morning, so even liquids in the morning could take too long to go through and stretch the pouch as they sit there. Many people then get a complete unfill or a partial unfill and let the stoma rest. With mine, I went back on liquids for 3 days and I was good as new. I also started sipping rather than guzzling my Breakfast. I guess the big deal with stretching is that if you try to live with too tight a restriction for a long time and with the subsequent stretching, you can get into a more chronic problem. I know when she told me I had a stretched pouch, I thought the world as I knew it had ended, and it turned out to be an easy fix and a cautionary tale. I keep a list of the rules of living as a bandster taped on my refrigerator, and I'm always finding something I need to do better, or that I just didn't do for awhile. Congratulations on your journey so far! Oh, and I also found out that for me, I am the worlds best at talking myself out of going to the gym. But I put Tony Horton's 30 minute routines on my portable CD, turn the sound off and turn the TV on, and I watch 1/2 hour of TV while I do his worout routine, and it's over before I know it. I find that I'm not going to be a major athlete in my life, so I need to have lots of different strategies for getting in exercise. I also found that sitting and watching TV is my worst emeny, so exercising in order to give myself permission to watch seems to work.... I hope you get lots of responses to this thread. I'll be interested to see what others are doing.

We've all been there, it happens to all of us. I'm a bit the same at the moment, I'd hate to admit what's gone down my cake hole in the last few days. I'm going for a fill on Thursday. I had the same thing, I didnt get REALLY tight but just a bit for comfort and I convinced myself that I needed a bit out. Which I did, got relief but the the whole last 12 months has been much more of a struggle to maintain, I've dealt with head hunger and appetite the whole time. I havent gained anything significant, thanks to running about 700 miles a day. But I'm probably a kg or two heavier than I was at this time last year and its better to act now! For me, the tightness was transient, in hindsight I should have waited it out because I'm back at the same level and can easily, and I mean easily, eat an entire sandwich. Which in and of itself is not so problematic, but the appetite that comes with it is. So I'm going to have a tiny fill. And then another if I need to. I've farted around way too long complaining about wanting to have lost just 10 more lb without actually using the band for what it is meant to be used for - well filled you can eat little enough to lose weight! I guess I just kind of feel I shouldnt need it this far down the track and that my doc is going to scold me for wanting to lose more weight. What more can you do? Just approach that good restriction cautiously and slowly and keep up a lot of exercise, which works wonders to preventing weight gain. I guess you ARE starting again in a sense but if you cant take the fast aggressive fills then no amount of trying to is going to work for you, you'll just end up unfilled again. Slow and steady wins the race. Oh, and did I mention exercise! Its your number one weapon in preventing regain.

@FluffyChix: The weight gain is indeed because of "not following the rules". However, as with other strict diets this whole bunch of strict rules can't usually be followed forever. Willpower wears out. There might be a few exceptions who can follow the whole book of rules forever (as there is with other diets; after all there are people who maintain their weight with WW etc. as well). To not make WLS into just another diet or diet in disguise that gives you great success in the beginning and makes you miserable a few months or years down the road: implement rules that you can follow forever.

Do you find yourself stress eating, comfort eating or even boredom eating during your workday? That's emotional eating. Emotional eating is the eating that happens when you're procrastinating tackling a difficult project, struggling with writer's block, or avoiding a difficult conversation. Emotional eating also happens when we're trying to transform our feelings-like munching mindlessly in the late afternoon in an attempt to perk up or re-motivate. Emotional eating is a major cause of weight gain, weight loss difficulties, and weight re-gain after weight loss. It can be a major issue for many busy business owners and professionals who feel like they are facing a mounting to-do list, challenging projects, financial challenges, and too-little time. Before you reach for a snack-here are three ways to avoid emotional eating during your work day and build skills and awareness that will help you take charge of future challenges with emotional eating. 1. Identify Emotional Eating Lots of emotional eating happens without paying a lot of attention. When we eat without our full awareness we eat more, we often make poor choices, and we don't even fully taste and enjoy what we are eating. Don't put food where you can reach for it mindlessly. Use strategies that maximize your awareness of what you are doing-don't eat while you are working-in fact, set a personal policy of not multitasking at all while you eat. If you are feeling cravings or urges to eat that aren't hunger-driven, say what you know about what's going on-actually say it out loud (and without judgment). "I'm not physically hungry but all I can think about are those brownies in the kitchen. Something is triggering me to think about eating even though I don't need fuel right now." You might feel silly, but don't skip this step. If you are surrounded by other people and you can't really talk to yourself, pull out a piece of paper and write it down. Don't worry if you don't know anything more than "I'm not really hungry, but I want to eat." 2. Be Curious About Your Craving That urge to eat probably didn't pop up out of nowhere. The five minutes (or less) it takes to stop and explore what's going on will be worth it. See if you can identify what your craving is really about. Pull out a journal or type on your computer for a few minutes (yes, I know you're busy. Just take a FEW minutes). If you can, you might want to go for a short walk while you think. Why is eating suddenly so appealing? What was happening before you were thinking of it? What would you be doing or thinking of if you weren't focused on eating? What makes this hour different from one when food wasn't calling to you? Close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, and notice what comes to you. If you figure anything out, be direct with yourself and put it into words. "I'm not hungry but I'm focusing on eating candy. I just realized it's because I'm really stressed out about this presentation I need to get done and I'm worried about whether it will be good enough" If you hit pay dirt here, you'll now find you have a different problem. The problem isn't really about eating or not eating, it's figuring out how to take care of yourself and the feelings or issues you just identified. Sometimes, simply identifying the real cause of your hunger will be enough to shift how you feel. Sometimes you'll need to move to a strategy that addresses the real need or issue. 3. Create Options It's much easier not to turn to food if you have a plan for what you can do instead. Take the information you have gathered and start developing a list of everything you can think of that you could do to take care of that feeling or need in addition to eating. It's not about NOT eating, it's about figuring out what you can do INSTEAD. Take a break, switch tasks, drink a glass of Water, go wash your hands and put on lotion, commit to spending fifteen minutes on the task you are avoiding....You get the idea. Put the list somewhere where you can see it and can add ideas as you think of them. Don't censor your ideas for being unrealistic or impossible. Write down every strategy (big or small) you can think of to do in response to worry or anxiety or tiredness or boredom (or whatever you have identified). Make a commitment to try two of those things, this week when the emotional eating urge hits and tweak your list as you go. Are you a smart, busy woman struggling with emotional eating, overeating, and balancing work and life? Claim your free psychologist-designed audio series: “5 Simple Steps to Move Beyond Overwhelm With Food and Life” at http://TooMuchOnHerPlate.com Just look for the yellow post-it note at the top of the page Melissa McCreery, PhD, ACC, is a Psychologist, ICF Certified Life Coach, emotional eating expert, and the founder of http://toomuchonherplate.com, a company dedicated to providing smart resources to busy women struggling with food, weight and overwhelm.

I still have mine but converting to the gastric sleeve in 11 days! I am having esophagus uses with pouch dilatation and inflammation and weight gain. I'm so disappointed, I loved my band. It really helped me make the lifestyle changes I needed and now it is awful. The mental anguish alone is terrible. 100 lb sustained weight loss for 8 years and now re-gaining. Cant wait to convert

Ok I'm extremely frustrated right now and would like to know if anyone has had a similar experience. I was banded in Sept of 2009 and had several fills and all of a sudden this past December I lost restriction. I was supposed to have close to 9ccs in my band and when I went in for a fill I only had 2cc so they determined I had a leak. My Dr. just assumed the leak was in the port and didn't offer to do any testing to confirm it. So I went in for a port replacement 2 weeks ago and just had my follow up and fill appointment today. The PA was having problems finding my port so she had me stand up for an xray and then asked me if I had done anything strenuous. I replied no and she then told me my port was flipped!!! How in the world can I have a flipped port when the Dr. just put it in 2 weeks ago?! Furthermore, I am self pay so the replacement surgery cost me $2300 out of my pocket and I'll be damned if I'm paying for the same surgery AGAIN because I now have a flipped port instead of a leaking one. The most frustrating part is the weight gain. I've gained 10-15lbs since I lost restriction and was looking forward to getting back on track and now I'll have to get surgery all over again! I haven't had a chance to speak with my Dr. yet but I look forward to raising some hell when I do. I've been generally dissatisfied with him throughout this whole process as it is.

With respect, I am about to say something very different from your previous replies: it may be worth waiting. We are all different. Here in the UK, my NHS surgeon fitted my band on 17 December 2007 and I didn't get my first fill for 6 months! I experienced some restriction from just the band and my surgeon, in his wisdom, thought that it would be the best plan to leave things as they were for as long as possible. He warned me that although we bandsters beg and plead for fills and more restriction at every follow up appointment, too much restriction can actually cause weight GAIN. Apparently, if we are too restricted when it comes to calorie consumption we will crave calories (much the same sort of mechanism kicks in as that terribly misnamed "starvation mode") and we are often motivated to overindulge in liquid calories instead. Apparently this is a big risk - too much restriction can be as counterproductive as too little. I have reached a healthy and normal BMI with only one fill in two years - of 2ml. Please don't think that I am disrespecting other bandsters who really DO NEED more ccs in their band, but some of us may need a lot less and may find that more than a minimal fill can actually work against our weight loss efforts.

I am with Marimu. I weight every day. (Don't have the self-control to stop! LOL) My weight fluctuates up to 5 pounds at different times of the day. I have also decided that it only counts toward my ticker if it is down on Sunday. Somehow, that helps. Oh yes, and I have noticed a pattern where I lose a bunch of weight, gain 2 back and then lose it again quickly.

Also May 5th for me - I'm still meant to be on weight loss rather than weight gain, and I won't know until Wednesday if I'm on a pre-op liquid diet, though I've been doing the liver shrinking thing since October, and it's pretty far reduced from what it was, but still bigger than the doctor would like it. For pre-op, I've been doing Optimum Nutrition, and the flavor isn't bad, but it's kind of heavy. I discovered Premiere Protein, and it's probably my favorite shake out of the ones I've tried (a few), and I'm going to be sticking with it post-surgery if I can. I've seen a lot of different brands recommended, both around the internet and on this forum. Body Fortress, nectar, Any whey, Syntha-6, Premiere, Click, Chike, Celebrate ENS, Isopure, and a lot of posters on forum have seemed to swear by unjury. Good luck to everyone going in on May 5th!

I had a fatty liver. My enzynes were sky high as well. After weightloss thanks in part to diet change and then my band, my levels are back to a normal range. My family physician had me count my carbs (10 a day) and watch my fatty food intake. (Greasy fried foods). My fatty liver was associated with excess weight gain over the years.

I'm 55 and have a "fatty" liver. It showed up at one of those supermarket blood checks for cholesterol, was a freebie. What a shocker when he told me I had high levels of enzymes and I needed to be checked. I might have a cocktail every now and then, but I'm not a drinker, so my PCP ran every test for liver disease and it came back a "fatty" liver. I think it's usually caused by rapid weight gain. Last visit it was almost back to normal, thanks to my band.

Hi! Wow, I can understand how frustrated you must feel!! It is really hard not to focus on the weight gain. Just remember that during the time that you were gaining, the band was not doing its job when the doc took out the fill, so the tool that was supposed to help you lose weight was unavailable. Kinda like trying to take notes without a pen..Pretty hard to do Just focus on the fact that you did lose 35 pounds!!! So you know you can do it. When you go back in for your fill, hopefully things will be back on track and you will be good to go!! Don't look back on time lost, just continue from where you left off!! I am also going to see a counselor and it is really helpful. I have one that specializes in bariatric issues, so they have a really good understanding about this stuff. We are all rooting for you, and for each other!! Good luck :tongue2:

Hello all, I am new to the forum, but I am about 1 year and 2 months post surgery. It's been a rough road from the start was hospitalized a week after surgery for dehydration and C. Diff. Since then I have had multiple visits to the the office and ER for adjustments and pain. We can't seem to find a happy medium to keep my band filled to, it's either too tight or not enough restriction. In the last month I have had to have fluid removed and of course so goes the weight gain. Just frustrated, i do not regret the surgery because the weight loss has been awesome but I feel like I am stuck in a rut. I pretty religiously cook food from skinnytaste.com and the skinnytaste cook book, but going out proves the be the hardest from food options to cocktails and beer, makes me feel like I am missing out! I need to get back on track. Any suggestions!!!

Hi, I'm walking a very similar journey. I am 9 years post op and have crept back to 20 lbs less than my surgery weight. Yikes!! Facing that reality plus wanting to get pregnant again and getting older, I have buckled down to start losing weight. Back in 2007, my surgery was very smooth. I healed quickly and 1 year afterward, I had lost 100lbs. I plateaued from there for several years. However, I became less mindful of what I was eating and how I was eating. The weight gain was very slow. After having a baby 2 years ago, the weight gain started happening at a rapid pace. It frightened me. Approximately 10 days ago, I started a liquid diet, which includes protein shakes and I am exercising 4 days a week. I just transitioned to eating lean protein and veggies, substituting 1-2 meals with shakes. Like you, I have found that now I have some restriction back. I'll be seeing my former dietitian soon to see how I should proceed going forward. Do you have any updates to share? Are you counting calories and if so, what it your daily count? What kinds of things are you eating?

Hello, everyone, I've been lurking on this board for a couple of years, now; going back and forth as to whether or not to have the lap band. After yet ANOTHER failed attempt at weight loss (60 lbs this last attempt...now on the weight gain upswing again), I've decided to bite the bullet. I need this surgery. Since I am now working as an independent contractor massage therapist, I no longer have health insurance. I won't have it until I get married to my fiancee next November. As it stands, I'll have to be self-pay. :drool: My question is this: I know this varies, but what are the surgeon's requirements when a patient is self-pay? Most of the frustrating requirements seem to be the doing of the health care providers. It seems that with the insurance companies out of the picture, the surgeons requirements are a bit more leanient. Those of you who are, or have been self-pay, what were the requirements of you respective surgeons? Also, as a self-pay patient, did you have to wait months for your surgery date? Thanks for any comments! -SL

You can't really stretch your band. You could run over the band with a truck and it's probably not going to change it. It is your stomach and/or esophagus that dilates, not your band. If you are eating and drinking together yes, you can dilate your pouch and/or esophagus and the only way to know if you have or not is to have a fill under fluoroscopy. If you have dilated one or the other then usually the doc will unfill you and put you on liquids for several weeks. Most of the time this will fix the problem. If not, rarely surgical repositioning is in order. I know what you mean about weight gain. I weigh daily because I'll never let it get out of hand again.