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No weight loss and no weight gain. I am stalled and I know a couple of reasons why....I need a fill (appt is in January), I have not exercised as much as I should and I have been so busy at work. I am looking forward to the holidays and making good choices. Have a good week everyone!

Hi Michelle! I'm also new to the blogging and Banding! I'm going to the seminar tonight. My insurance has been pretty cut and dry about the approval requirements, and I fit them, so I'm hoping for a smooth process (but doubt I will get it!). I just wanted to say - I noticed not only a weight gain but also a resistance in losing weight after my hysterectomy. I did well with my immediate post-op HRT but had to switch 6 months after surgery and literally gained 15 lbs in a month! I insisted I switch back to the original HRT (Vivelle Dot) after a few months. Good luck with the insurance piece! I'm nervous and excited for the seminar tonight. I've been looking forward to it for a week!

FYI, the sleeve was started as the first step of the duodenal switch, not the RNY. Drs found many of those who did not go on to get the second part of the surgery still lost weight. The sleeve was developed as a stand alone surgery from there. People have had their stomachs removed for many reasons for many years... most live a happy, thinner life afterwards. My Doc said if I did not lose enough weight on the sleeve, or gained a lot back, I could always get it switched up to the DS. The DS is very drastic, and high maintenance... but has the best weight loss statistics. I have had the sleeve going on 2 years, and it has been a breeze for me in most ways. I have had a weight gain bounce.. of about 12 pounds... but my life and health are SOOO much better, and quality of life is where its at. Go for it.

I don't think there's anything consistent about weight loss, no matter what you do. We have too any changes going on in our bodies at all times to expect that we will always lose the same amount. I tend to stay the same for a couple of weeks and then I'll lose 4 lbs in 2 days. Here's what I do to keep from going crazy. I weigh myself most days, but I only log the number it's consistent for a couple of days. Also, whenever I log my weight, I check to see how much weight I've lost since the same day last month. That gives me a better perspective on how much I'm losing on a weekly basis, instead of freaking out over this week's Water weight gain. I know you are only 3 weeks out, but this process is slow. It will feel like forever if you worry about all of the minor fluctuations. Cindy

Congrats on the loss! It's normal to progressively be able to eat a little bit more over time. Since you've cut out your protein shake, have you been replacing the content with a lean protein? I'm nearly 6 months out and have played around with my diet quite a bit. I always end up running back to my protein shakes because it's so difficult too meet my minimum protein intake without them. Maybe the protein deficiency is aiding the weight gain. Sent from my SM-G935P using BariatricPal mobile app

I can always tell weight loss and weight gain in my pictures. You can really notice the loss in your pictures. WOW

I have experienced a 30 pound weight gain. today I am starting Protein shake diet to get back on track.

I am scheduled to be sleeved on October 16th. What happens if you gain weight after the supervised diet and exercise classes are done? Ever since I got the call for my surgery date I have been excited, scared, anxious and just about every other emotion you can get during this. I'm just wondering what happens if I do gain weight. Another question I have is....I have my pre op on oct. 4 th. what do I need to expect for that? They said something about test I know I have a class...but if I don't pass a test it will have to be rescheduled. I'm not sure what test it would be.

Hi! I had vsg 8.15 and have lost 24 lbs. This am I seem to be up 3 lbs. Not off course. Still eating pureed. Cals are between 6 and 700. I meet protein daily but water is tough. I usually get 52 ounces vs 64. I eat 3 meals daily plus 1 snack of string cheese. I still have some muscle discomfort in tummy area but find I'm emotional a lot. Dr is happy w progress but I'm super upset with stall or gain when I'm not even eating or drinking off program. Any thoughts?

What Kristine73 said is very true, different meds work very differently for different people. It's interesting she said wellbutrin made her eat more. Many people have taken wellbutrin to cure cravings, some have used it for weight loss and to quit smoking. The weight gain possibility on it is very low, and as i said some people actually lose weight on it. I take wellbutrin for depression. It didn't help me lose weight, but it certainly helped my depression. It didn't make me gain gain weight either. Good luck. As mentioned above it may be a good idea to see a psych specialist to prescribe these types of meds .

Casey, From my understanding they do not ask many questions. I have never gone through a therapist for approval but I heard they whip you through there. Personally, I wish I would have gone through therapy because I truly believe once you have made it to your goal, the mind, MY MIND changed dramatically and I thought that I needed it then. I don't doubt that I still need it now. In fact, it wouldn't even hurt my husband to go through therapy as I consisently hear, EVER SINCE YOU LOST YOUR WEIGHT, and EVER SINCE YOU QUIT SMOKING......... He is having a tough time. What he doesn't realize, in which I have told him was, you will never understand throughout my life what I have gone through and you will also never understand how much I love you for putting up with me and how lucky I am to still have you since I went through weight gain and weight loss with him. All the time that I bought clothes and then threw them out because they couldn't fit me anymore. Skinny, fat, skinny, fat..........and, he never had a weight problem in his life. He needs therapy as well as I do, still because I still have tough times trying to accept and be happy with who I am. Big huge life change is headed your way as long as you commit yourself. Just remember the most important outcome of this whole process and that is to become healthy and live a more happy life. You can get through this and we are all here for moral support. Josephine

I'm finally getting back on track...decided to go back to liquids for a few days...I'm leaving for Florida Thursday morning...spending the weekend...so I know that I will be eating out a lot...hopefully, I'll make good choices and eat healthy. I do NOT want to come back with weight gain...

I had the surgery only three days ago but I’m very disappointed to see that I have gained weight since. I’m nervous that this will never go away and it will continue. Advice please?

Hey guys, Yesterday I got a chance to talk to my nc from Kaiser. She said: 1- NO Protein SHAKES- Protein powder is expensive and cause weight gain. People add this and that to protien shakes and gain weight. Get your protein from your meat! 2- That hunger pain that you are feeling is because of lack of fluids. Drink more. It will go away. Warm fluids are better for the new pouch. Try that. Do NOT drink Ensure and or Boost, nothing but weight gainers. 3- NO oatmeal it is a sweller. It will make your stomach bigger and you will eat more and gain weight. 4- The reason why you are not losing weight right now is because your body is saying- "What the hell is going on?" Trust me, it will start kicking in. Just hang in there. 5- She asked, "Do you feel pain when you are eating?" I said, "Yes." She asks, "So what do you do?" I said, "I stop eating." She said, "Good, that's what you suppose to do." She also said, that some people just keep eating pass the pain and gain weight. (how..) 6- I said, "I don't feel that I am not getting enough calories." She said, "That's the idea. Even though you might be getting 300 calories, your body will kick in. Maybe not right away, but trust me--you will loose weight." 7- "Are you exercising?" "Yes, I am." "What are you doing." "I walk." "GOOD!" 8- "You feel weak and tired?" "Yes I do." She said, " that is because your body is trying to figure out where to get the energy from. Your body will realize that it will have to take it from the fat. So don't worry, this will go away." ---What do you guys think about that? Pam

I had a similar conversation with a friend recently, (my BMI is supposed to be 100 lbs. I would be happy at 135-145! But my nutritionist suggested if I strive toward closer to my BMI, when the natural weight gain happens, I will be around 125.... ) she completely didn't see the point of getting so tiny and it really confused me. . I am so glad to share this with someone.

I just got back from Mexico having to get a port replacement. Apparently the tubing between my port and connector had needle pricks in it causing the fluid to leak out. I was within 20 lbs of goal and off nearly all my diabetes medication. I got sick and in order to take the medication I had to have the band emptied. Then the nightmare began. After 5 attempts with one doctor going in by 'feel' I finally went to another dr who used a flouroscope and found that my band was still empty. After a few times the second dr. put a thicker fluid in the port and found the leak. Now I am out $3200 for surgery, all the useless fills and transportation and lodging to Mexico to get things fixed. My diabetes is back with a fury and worse than ever (now on insulin) and diabetic kidney disease is back due to the contined weight gain as I went a total of 10 times over 8 months to get fills. Does anyone have any experience in how to make claims. I have the medical records, the damaged port and floroscopies. Would not like to have a big expensive lawsuit process if not necessary. Thanks in advance for any insight.

I know there is so much more to weight gains than just food addiction. I wonder sometimes if I've gained weight to "test" relationships that I have, Push people away...

Hi well we I don't want to start a dissing contest as to who screwed up the most but..... I had a four pound weight gain and it was partially over eating but mostly water gain. Called my doctor who told me my blood work at 1st of July indicated my kidneys had decreased doing their jobs so he uped my diaretic. I am diabetic so kidney failure is a real worry. Problem with me though is I have such a guilt trip with weight gains that I usually end up on a grazing binge. Which I did but I think all is back to normal. I am back to measuring. I think I will get better at this job of controlling eating when I get my fills up to 6 ccs. I am told the fr. midband's normal fill level is 6 to 8. If I have one peice of advice to anyone, that is to go over your eating habits and if everything is the same, then it is a water gain. Usually at the time of your menstral cycle. If the water stays on, then check with the doc to see about increasing your diaretic. Doddie

Lots of solid advice here. I am very grateful that I waited for breast work until I was at a stable weight. When I was at what I thought was my goal weight I was a solid C. I dropped 15 lbs below goal, and went from a C to an A in a month. So my breasts were drastically affected by relatively minor weight loss. On the other hand I am 10-15 lbs above my lowest weight, and my lower body lift has help up perfectly. So my experience also says weight loss is more detrimental that (small to moderate) weight gain.

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

I finally found an article about food addiction written in a way that is easily understood by all. Below you will find the normal behavior versus the addictive behavior. Here's an excerpt from that section: Dependence on food will be habitual, while addiction to food will be somewhat unpredictable (e.g., a morning cup of coffee versus the sudden, inexplicable drive to eat four servings of cheesecake) Dependence on food will have few, if any, emotional causes, but addiction to food is provoked by emotions and circumstances that cause feelings of powerlessness (e.g., a treat to get through a trying day at work versus a binge to avoid focusing on painful thoughts Dependence on food will have few, if any, emotional effects, whereas addiction to food will cause great anxiety if not properly attended to (e.g., being cranky due to caffeine deprivation versus feeling panicked because a planned binge is interrupted) Dependence on food will cause minimal interference in other areas of a person’s life, but addiction to food will disturb every aspect (e.g., a love for red wine with dinner versus preferring to eat alone for the sake of overeating) Dependence on food can be controlled at will, but food addiction appears as an unstoppable force in the person’s life (e.g., giving up pizza after noticing slight weight gain versus trying to stick to a healthy eating plan but derailing constantly; having a divided mind that seems to want opposite things) Dependence on food is pleasurable, but food addiction is a torment (e.g., traditional Christmas cookies versus the horror one has that one has eaten the whole box of cookies, coupled with the knowledge that one isn’t done yet) Dependence on food is casual, whereas food addiction appears to the addicted person to be closely tied to his or her identity (e.g., the guilty pleasure of Cheetos versus the shame and feelings of inadequacy that often accompany a binge) Perhaps one of the most important paragraphs is below: (helpful to read the entire article) What happened in this scenario demonstrates what, for many people, is the central issue of food addiction. Bingeing allows the food-addicted person to avoid dealing with threatening emotions (such as his or her perceived failure, powerlessness, or inferiority) by replacing them with guilt and shame, which are also threatening, but in a familiar, almost comfortable way. In the mind of the food-addicted person, the pivotal issue is lack of willpower. But in truth, they are using food to defend themselves against the pain in their life. By facilitating this transfer and avoidance of emotions, food has become a drug, and it is at this point that the food-addicted person needs to seek help. Bingeing has a different meaning for most people. When I was obese I thought it meant that you ate in the closet in the dark with a whole package of Oreos and a gallon of milk. Of course I didn't do that so I didn't think it applied to my behavior. (umm...denial) Finally I realized that my weekend routine of buying a huge Bucket 'O Chicken and locking myself in my apartment from Friday evening until going to work on Monday morning was certainly a form of bingeing. The same thing applied to my Quarter Pounder with Cheese obsession. I'm sure the Dallas quarterly earnings dropped significantly around the time I woke up to my dependence on this junk food. Most importantly please, please, please....do not walk the path of shame. From that same paragraph the very important part of the article... "In the mind of the food-addicted person, the pivotal issue is lack of willpower. But in truth, they are using food to defend themselves against the pain in their life." How sad it is that we are just trying to avoid the pain of life by using food. The problem is that it never works without paying a great price. Ask for help, educate yourself, and know that freedom from this disease is truly possible.

Pete, You are right, some of your weight gain may be from stoping the lasix. (furosemide) Are you noticing swelling especially in your lower extremities. If you are making good food choices and still gaining weight like that you need to let the doctor know. You don't want to put on a lot of fluid. It wouldn't be good for you. Keep up the great work. You will get there!

I started having consults the month I reached goal (7 months post-op) with the intention of getting it done in a couple months. Turns out my doc was booked up, so I had to wait anyway. I ended up getting arm lift, breast lift and tummy tuck 6.5 months into maintenance (14 months post-op over all). In retrospect its good that there was a wait time because I ended up losing another 15-ish lbs by the time PS surgery came around. My doc did say that in terms of effect on results, weight loss results in more effect on results than weight gain. The reason being that scar tissue may not shrink as well as it expands. My PS was done in Dec 2019, and I'm supremely happy that I had it done. Having tight arms in tank tops and being able to go braless in a tube top is pure joy, lol. P.S. I had mine done in Canada, so I can offer no personal recommendations. I do hear that Columbia is an inexpensive and reliable place to consider though.

Hi, I just went to the doctor today and he said we could try to get insurance approval but he didn't seem optimistic. I'm 5'3" and 210 lbs and my BMI was 37. I have United Health Care for insurance and the coordinator said they're a tough company. She told me go to my doctor/s and get a 5 year documentation or the weight gain. From what I read on many websites the comorbidities that I had were depression and high cholesterol but I guess they're not that serious because the doctor told me if I had high blood pressure or diabetes I'd get approved with that BMI. This is very frustrating.

Hello everyone, I just want to introduce myself. My name is Ammisuu. I am 49 years old and have been yo-yoing weight gains and losses my entire adult life. Since early July 2012 I have been attending a bariatric surgery program. I attended several general information meetings, met with a social worker, met with registered dietitian, met with a nurse practitioner, had blood work, answered multiple questionnaires, took quizzes, communicated with my primary care physicians office several times regarding insurance referrals and prior authorizations with my insurance company………all while exercising, eating right and losing weight. My starting weight was 246. BMI = 45. The center recommended that I lose 5 % total body weight (12 pounds) prior to meeting with the surgeon. I met the recommended goal and had an appointment with my surgeon on Sept 26. I was cleared medically to have the surgery. After that appointment I met one last time at the bariatric center for a 2 hour review session. The presenter lectured a repeated theme, “you cannot gain any weight before surgery or the surgery will be postponed”…. I have been a bit stressed about this since I have a history of frequent gains and losses. This fear is a bit unrealistic at this time since I have lost 22 pounds as of this morning’s weigh-in. Regardless, I still worry. As of this writing, I have completed my preoperative diet and today is the FINAL day. Tomorrow, October 31, 2012 I will undergo Lap-band surgery!!! I’m sure you’ll be hearing more from me soon. Happy Halloween everyone Ammisuu