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I think we all have different reasons for being here. Some people have eating issues. Some people, no matter what they do they gain weight or can't get it off. Some people have medical conditions that cause them to gain weight, or they are on certain meds that caused them to gain weight and they can't get it off. I think that it is important to not assume that everyone has eating issues. It is important to not assume everyone has a medical condition. For people who have eating issues, I have a friend going through this, the battle with food is constant and it's hard. It isn't anything that is easy and a surgery like this isn't going to solve the problem alone. Therapy and other follow up care is usually needed. My poor girlfriend who is struggling with eating issues is working hard to correct her relationship with food and decided that she is going to get surgery to help with the weight loss now. Her relationship is starting to turn around thanks to therapy and so she is planning on the surgery. I constantly offer her support and sometimes she lets me know what her food plans are for the day. For me, one of my guiltiest things is eating out. I put on most of my weight when I was in my 20's. I had money to burn and instead of cooking I ate out a lot. I had a gym membership when I had a good job and I lost a great deal of weight that I put on. I got pregnant with my son and things went down hill. The company I worked for closed, money became tight, I was a single mother so we were living off of Hot Dogs, Macaroni and cheese, corn and green beans. I had to make do with what I had. I began to put on a pound a week. My 130 frame ballooned with in a year. While I was working I started falling asleep at the wheel driving. Finally found out my thyroid was a mess, and that I needed meds. I took meds for a six months when an Endocronologist said, "stop the meds, you are soo young and it isn't that bad." Hoshimotos took over my body for the next 7 years, putting on weight, more and more, no matter how I ate I gained. I became pregnant with my daughter and was rushed over to a new Endo and they were concerned. The put me on meds right away for the babies health. I started to regulate again and lost 15lbs during pregnancy. I gave birth to my daughter and became depressed. I probably ate some things I shouldn't have. I put back on the 15lbs and decided enough is enough. I went back to the gym and altered my diet again, to meat and veggies. I had a personal trainer and I kept a strict food diary. I counted calories, fat, carbs and sugars. I worked hard at the gym 5 days a week and on saturday and Sunday would walk. I went back to the gym and was measured after a week I gained half a pound and my trainer assured me that I am probably just gaining muscle faster than loosing fat. I worked my muscles and cardio for 5 weeks. I went from 220 to 230. In my frustration I decided it didn't matter anymore and for six months fetl sorry for myself. I ate brownies and cookies and only put on 4lbs. I went to my OBGYN sobbing, sobbing my eyes out and said, "I just can't live like this anymore, what are my options." He was very sympathetic and he believed me, seeing other women fight with weight loss. "Once you put it on you can't get it off and sometimes it isn't even anything specific you do to put it on. You don't have to do one thing wrong to create this weight issue, you could do everything right." He suggested the band and I followed up with my primary, who also suggested the band. So here I am, finally loosing weight and feeling great. I have no desire to eat brownies anymore. My biggest love is chocolate and I only give myself two days that I can treat myself, sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. I haven't had a fill up to this point so the hunger was making me crazy. We have chips, chocolate, cookies, etc in the house. The kids get cookies every couple of days as a snack so I thought, "what if I allow myself that same kind of limit." My kids are tall and thin, my son is ten and weighs 91 lbs and is all muscle, my daughter, tall, thin muscular girl. They are beautiful and people never think they are my kids. People assume if you are fat it is what you eat, that kills me. If it was just our dining habits I would have round kids too. My husband is heavy and admits his problem is with food. He loves food, loves the taste of food, I on the other hand could careless about food. I eat because I have to. I watch his family fill there plates to the brim, two or three times. It is crazy and it makes me sick to think about eating that much food. Anyway, that is all. I guess I am just tired of the assumptions of how people gain their weight. I am so tired of people judging us based on our weight. "Oh that person is over weight so they must be binging, or that person is over weight so they must be trying to heal themselves with food, that person is over weight so they must eat out all the time." It is funny, if you go out to eat when you are overweight people assume you must do this a lot. One of the things I do when I go out to eat is get a take out container right away and cut out just a small portion of the meal to eat. I have done this forever, a lady looked at me weird when I said, "it helps to reduce the calories I take in, out of site out of mind." Then she looked at me like I must eat it all on the way home or something. I then cut that 2/3s of the meal in half again and eat that at home as seperate meals, or my hubby eats it. I am not fat because I don't know how to eat or how to count calories. I don't use dressings, I have always used low fat mayo and less then the "amount" of the serving listed on the label. I could not do anything more than I had already done to loose this weight. I thought, fought and cried myself to sleep because I did not want to die in a few years because I am fat. I wanted to be able to chase my kids around on the beach or play in the yard. I did not want surgery, I wanted surgery even less than I wanted to be fat. I was sure I should be able to do this on my own and when I couldn't I was crushed. Before my thyroid and PCOS was really bad, Weight watchers worked. Now it didn't, before the gym and diet worked, now it didn't. Now it was time to find a solution that did and this is working. I just wish the world would stop judging, even those who suffer from obesity. We need to not only stop judging others and their journey, but we need to stop being so harsh on ourselves. So what if we only loose half a pound one week, it means we get back on track the next week, don't let guilt take you over. We all have off days, off weeks, but it doesn't mean we can't bring ourselves back around. I have studied addiction, I study psychology, I understand the process when the mind becomes our worst enemy, be it chemical or circumstantial. We must remember to love ourselves in order to heal our souls and forgive ourselves. Even if medical conditions got us here, at some point we gave up on ourselves and just started living life and not worrying about it. Like the problem would resolve itself. I am glad I waited this long, as I wasn't obese enough for surgery until about four years ago and then I ended up pregnant and back on hypothyroid meds. I thought that, coupled with excercise I would start loosing. When I didn't, this time, I didnt hit ground zero depression, I went to my doctors and asked what there was to help me. I am being proactive, and to me that is the best gift I can give myself and my family. My son said to me the other day, "Mom, pretty soon I will be able to wrap my arms tight around you, you are loosing weight and looking great." I looked at him and smiled he then said, "and even better you are feeling better, you are doing more and you smile a lot more. I am so happy you are my Mom." He is ten and he is one of the blessings I am fighting this fight for. My two and a half year old needs a Mommy for the next 16 years and I want to do my best to be here.

There is no reason for rebound weight gain if you have changed your lifestyle. In my 18+ months at goal weight, I have never gained more than normal monthly Water weight (a whopping 2 lbs most months that is gone within a couple of days) With a good lifestyle change, staying at goal weight without a rebound is realistic.

I added both of you ladies to my friend list - I'm glad to hear your stories too. I can't blame my weight gain on anything but myself - I started a company about 5 years ago which kept me sitting at a computer for so many hours a day, I ended up eating every meal at my desk. I also drank a lot too. It's part of the culture of my work environment... we are all really big drinkers. It's hard to break out of. Luckily, i kind of "grew out of it", in that i'm 31 now, and that lifestyle just isn't feasible for me anymore. Two of the things that have been bothering me the most since I reached this weight are: 1) The almost constant fatigue. I feel like I have mono all the time. All I want to do is sleep when i'm not working. I can't get motivated to do the things in my life i need to do, like running errands, or even fixing up my new apartment. I don't have a husband or kids to force me to do stuff, but honestly, i'm pretty glad because if i did, I'd be a pretty sad sack of crap. 2) Aches and pains. My hips and knees hurt all the time. Like I'm sore from exertion, but I haven't exerted myself. That puts me further down the black hole of inactivity. UGH, it's embarrassing to even type. As it gets closer to time for my surgery, i find myself trying to be more active, because I want to make the surgery go as smoothly as possible, and i figure i'll be stuck in bed long enough after i get home. Since i've been feeling bad like this 100% of the time for the last few years, it's made me really excited about the surgery. I feel like it's the exact life changing event that i need to pull me out of it. One of the guys I work with had VSG a couple of years ago, and said that very soon after, his energy level doubled, and it jump-started his life. He really enjoys working out now, and it really shows - he looks fantastic. Because I can see him with my own 2 eyes, he's been my best motivator, and ultimately *the thing* that helped me make this decision. <3

I think it is because this is our sensitive point. If you have been jeered at nagged and ridiculed all your life about the one point it does make you sensitive ...no matter if it was not intended to be hurtful. It has been my observation that usual people who have an issue ( weight, facial features, whatever) and who have been singled out in the past because of it..rarely make such personal comments because they know how it feels and they have empathy. That is why we find it so surprising that people feel it is their duty to comment on our physical condition ...as if maybe we just didnt know we were fat... and once they point it out then we might do something about it. I have noticed this particularly with my husband's ethnic group. They are traditionally not prone to weight gain and they are constantly amazed how people such as myself cannot control themselves... so they have in the past said things such as "My you really are fat" or "isnt your husband nice that he loves you despite you being so fat..you are lucky" and the advice they can give you is priceless such as "you should try to eat less" or drink a glass of Water before each meal, or most priceless the specialist who I went to see re Gastroscopy said that I shouldnt waste my time with banding and that I should eat an orange before each meal. She was a Professor of her speciality who would have weighed 59 kgs dripping wet ( which I would have gladly made her except for the fact that I needed her approval for the band) So instead I thanked her for her wonderful advice and said I would certainly give it the college try. All in all I think this is why I certainly am sensitive:smile2:

I weighed between six and seven pounds at birth, but I was also about 3 weeks early. I hit puberty the week I turned 10. Before that time, I was average. I thought I was fat, but when I look at pictures, I realize that I wasn't. My weight gain was fairly slow, but I think I eventually hit a point around 7th or 8th grade where I just started piling it on. I think I've had PCOS since I first started menstruating, so I think I eventually hit the tipping point where it was concerned. I think my PCOS made me tend to gain weight a little easier, and then I eventually got to the point where the weight I was gaining caused my PCOS to worsen, which then caused me to gain more weight. It became this vicious cycle.

I started out at 9'7. I was average toddler and young child and a stocky elementary age kid. I got chubby when I was about 11 and stayed that way through age 14. I slimmed down and spent most of my highschool years between 125-140ish and I was bigger than most so I did feel fat. I starting packing on pounds in college and averaged between 165-185. After I got married is when the weight gain really started and never got better. So I had brief times in my life when I was thin or at least healthy but nothing that has stuck. I can't wait to get to my goal and stay there.

Hi Everybody, I am really confused and slightly concerned. FOr those who dont know me, I have been banded more than 2 and a half years ago. I have had somewhere in the neighborhood of 8-9 fills, most done with flouroscopy and some blind. I have had almost no problems with my band, lost a lot of weight, only had one day bout of reflux which was resolved with an partial unfill. So things have been great. I had plastic surgery last Aug 2005 and my plastic surgeon removed all of my fill by accident. At the time he did this, I supposedly had 2.4 CC in my band. I only asked him to remove .25 and somehow he took it all. I did not know this until oNe month post PS, I went to my original lapband surgeon for a RE-fill. He tried to withdraw saline only to discover there was nothing in my band. My original surgeon decided he would only give me 1.00CC of saline. Well, 1.00CC of saline is like giving me nothing since I had no restriction with this amount. I went to his office one week later in pursuit of more restriction and he refused telling me to come back in 3 months and he would reconsider. Considering I had already gained 9 lbs with the unfill, I was not happy with that decision and found a new fill doctor in Dallas to do my fills. I went for a fill in September with another doc. He bumped me up to 2.20 and told me to come back if I needed more. Since then I have not lost any weight, gained even more weight and I went to see him yesterday to get more. During the visit, he pointed out to me with flouroscopy that my band is not in the ideal position and has slipped a little. He said the last flouro he did in Sept 2005 showed the same thing as well. Its no reason for big concern as long as I had restriction. He said future options if this fill he gave me didnt work was to: 1) Remove all the fill and see if the slip would resolve itself. 2) Reposition operation He said the slight slip was not really my fault. It wasnt from pouch packing, since the pouch is not dilatated, just slightly larger because of the position of the band. He kept assuring me that it was a chronic issue and probably had been like this for a long time because I had lost oodles of weight, my stomach was now smaller than before and bandsters that are far along tend to have these minor slippages. He made it clear that my band is not eroded or damaged in anyway. He also said nothing needed to be done as long as I had restriction from the fills. He gave me .30 more. I now supposedly have 2.5 in my band. The problem I have is that I dont have anyone else that I know in my neck of the woods who has been banded as long as I have. There are a few bandsters and other than some anedotal information about pouch size and slippage with long term bandsters, I really dont have any other information to know if what he says holds any Water. If he saw a minor slippage the last time I was there, why didnt he say anything? He said not to worry about it, but hey what else can I do? Anybody have any suggestions? Think I should get another opinion? Or should I just see if everything works properly with the new founded restriction I should be seeing? I was pretty wide open on the flouroscopy, so I am confused about what to do..... Babs in TX 334/180ish

I'm a 43-y.o. stay-at-home mom to two homeschooled children, ages 5 (girl) and 8 (boy). My husband and I are building a home - well, his salary is paying for it, I'm managing it, and our contractors are building it, lol. I used to be a research scientist. I started my weight gain/loss journey at age 9 when dad pointed out I was getting chubby and didn't I think I should stop drinking shakes and put me in a (boys!) soccer team for exercise. I was particularly clumsy at soccer and it did nothing for my self esteem... I wish they'd taken some effort to get me on a swim team instead - I'm actually a very good swimmer. Anyway, I followed a typical "lose 10, gain 15" pattern - the last round I lost 70 lb and gained 100... I'm starting my 2 week pre-op Medifast diet on Monday at just under 350 lb. My last straw was when my parents went to Hawaii last month - my son remarked that he wanted to go back, which reminded me that two years (and 50 lb lighter) ago I was jumping in the surf with my 6-y.o., and right now I don't even know if I could comfortably walk on a sand beach because of the arthritis in my knees and hips :-( My knees have been bad since I was a teen, so it was particularly stupid for me to have gained so much weight. I've been told that I can't have knee replacements until I've lost 125+ lb. I want to keep up with my young kids (hence the knee replacements) and I also want to live long enough to see my grandchildren. Consequently, I'm very highly motivated to succeed with my lapband. Looking forward to sharing progress stories with you all - Alyson

If I were you, I'd make appointments with both your surgeon and your nutritionist. With you surgeon, tell him how you haven't eaten meat and are resorting to soft foods. I'm no doctor, but it sounds like you actually might be a little tight and are resorting to "soft calorie syndrome". Contrary to popular belief, tighter isn't always better with the band, in fact it can lead to weight gain and complications. Here's a great article about it: http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/161269-tighter-isnt-always-better/ With your nutritionist, let them help you establish both a eating routine and calorie guidelines specific to you and your nutritional needs. Best wishes.

my steri-strips caused a horrible rash... had to get a steriod shot today and start a round of steriod pills.... side effect is weight gain - oh no! but i'll do anything to stop the itching! i thought about posting pics, but it was so disgusting. After reading all the posts, it sounds like a reaction is not that abnormal. Keep up the good work... i keep thinking what fun this fall will be!

I was banded on 5/12 and lost 10 lbs by the time I had my first f/u. I am due a fill on 6/18, however, I have not lost another pound since 5/21 my f/u. I have type II diabetes and am on an insulin pump. Have you considered being tested for insulin resistance? This can cause weight loss to stall as your body is not using the insulin you produce properly. This can also cause weight gain - even if you are eating 1200- 1500 calories a day. Don't give up, ask them to test your hemoglobin A1C - if it is between 6.0 and 8.0, you probably need glucophage to jumpstart your body into using insulin properly. This will assist you in your weight loss also. Talk with your doctor.

Sudden weight gains 99.999999999% of the time are just fluid fluctuations. It's weight gain, not fat gain. And fat's what we really care about, right? :biggrin:

When my long time {former}boss/Dr saw me in the office and didn't recognize me!!! {Among airplane seats, walking up the stairs, knees hurting, etc etc} He didn't say anything, it was written all over his face.Standing there in front of him wearing what I thought was a great poncho that hid a multiple of sins, all he could see was a big fat face! I even commented to him saying, "what, did I gain that much weight that you didn't recognize me"? He didn't say a word but just hugged me. Months later I bumped into his wife at the grocery store buying my pre-op liquid diet and told her we were having WLS surgery. She confided in me then what her husband had said about me when he got home. I've yet to see either one of them lately but even though I need to lose a good 35lbs more, I think they will definitely recognize the old me. And that was just one person. Now, after the surgery, I'm hearing from other friends & loved one's who held their tongues re: my recent weight gain and are my greatest supporters now!

I'm so thankful to have been sleeved and to have lost so much weight so quickly. It's been a lot of work but well worth the effort and risk associated with the surgery. My health problems (all the standard ones) are all fixed and I feel great. As I approach my goal weight, my wife, daughter and several people at work keep telling me I should stop losing now, but I'd still like to reduce my love handles. I established my goal weight based on weight lost 22 years ago and the level that I thought was good back then. However, I look different this time (at age 54) and a few tell me I look frail. Given my workout schedule, which includes strength training 3 times/week, I'm not at all frail but my new turkey neck does make me look older. Also, I'm told I walk differently (like an old man) and used to walk with more pep (when fat). Not sure the reason for this, but I've noticed myself hunching forward and try to adjust accordingly. So many changes without explanations. Monday I'm going back to my nut to figure out how to stop losing weight in a healthy manner. Somehow they left that out of my surgeon's instructions. I never imagined I would be in the situation where I'm trying to stop losing weight. Hopefully when I'm out of the honeymoon stage, I won't go back to fighting weight gains again .... I'm also very thankful for all of the support provided on this site and the great advice and information I've received here along the way ... Andrew

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!

Thank you all for your kind replies. It's such a fine balance as many of us long-term bandsters can attest to. I think the common problem that I see in many of the posts of long-term bandsters (and that I myself suffered from) is that the "perfect" fill (if such a thing ever exists) ends up becoming too tight a few years down the line, which leaves us with one of two choices: 1) a small unfill + being extra careful in order not to gain weight back 2) complications that may lead to larger unfills (and thus more risk of weight gain) or revision surgery all together. I am not the most compliant bandster but not the worst either so this continues to be a struggle for me, 5+ years out. I also suffered from an eating disorder in the past (binge eating) so need to be careful of not overly restricting my food choices as this seems to fuel it. Thank you all again. I will definitely keep you posted...

You're not alone or crazy or whatever. I completely understand the dilemma about not wanting to be social due to weight gain. Congrats on the weight loss by the way. There will be plenty of other games later on. Hopefully by the time the next one comes along you'll be further on your weight loss journey with more confidence, and you will be further post op with less 'restrictions' too. If something comes up sooner I'd suggest to take a protein shake with you and drink it on the drive over to the bar. I've had a bit of wine here and there already. If you go with reds you can sip it very slowly without the taste changing due to temp changes.

I want to be within my target weight maintenance range at the two year mark - Oct 20th. Range is 153-156. Weight this morning - 151.6. I always read that most folks have a "bounce back" weight gain at the 12 to 18 month mark. My weight stabilized at 155 at about 13 months out. I was determined that there would be no bounce back. So far, so good! I'm absolutely convinced that the key is my food log. Which I've maintained since a few weeks after my surgery. And the next milestone will be being in the same range at the three year mark! Lovin the new me!!

Hi everyone, I am new to this site and new to blogging as well. I got my band on 9/29/08 and was weighing myself about every three days. Driving me crazy. I made a New Year's Resolution to wiegh once a week. I showed no weight loss from last Thursday to this Thursday (actually showed a .2 oz weight gain) and am freaking out a little, so I know how you feel right now. But I'm going to hang in there and you hang in there too. I'm hoping we will eventually figure this all out.

I have been banded approx. 3yrs., 3 months. Goal to lose: 70 lbs weight loss; 30 lbs. On scale of 1 to 10 with satisfaction of the band: 5 Because I was post menopausal when I had the band put in,I was told that if I did not exercise, it would not work for me. I have not exercised. That is my fault. The psychological exam before the surgery was a joke. Anyone who has dealt with being obese for years would easily give answers the psychiatrist wanted to hear, rather than the truth. If you are still considering the band, listen to the people who say it is just a TOOL. That is what it is. You will still have to plan out meals, write down what you eat, and exercise, ... as you did before the band. The band will allow you to eat portions that will satisfy you, and you can easily stick to the plan. Concentrate on doing whatever you have to do to get to your goal, and the glory is, that the band will facilitate staying within 5 pounds of your goal weight a breeze compared to the past. I found the support groups that I attened for the first 18 months to be very frustrating. They were pretty heavily populated with people who had Roux-En-Y surgery, and they do not have to deal with the same issues that we do. At the support groups, I was sold tupperware, and people brought lots of dessert recipes. Let's face it, I was not obese because I had a lack of dessert recipes. How to cook chicken and fish meals that are low fat and interesting, that I could use. I am grateful that I do not have to obsess every day on what I eat, and get on a scale and have it show that I have gained weight anyway. I have stayed at the same weight for the last 2 years. No weight gain during the holidays, vacations, etc. I do need to find a support group. Maybe I can still pull of the next 40 pounds and feel good about myself. Before band, I ate more vegetables than the average person. Now it is easy to 'fill my face' with a yogurt (which is fine on the healthy intake scale) , or a burrito from Taco Bell, etc. ... or something that does not go down well, ... like a half a bage and cream cheese, or a donut, so I deal with the 'stuck' feeling for the next few hours, but I skip a meal that way.

Thanks Grady - Yeah - Sorry, I should have said that in the post reference it not being a "real" weight gain - HOWEVER, in the past i would have used that as an "excuse" and stayed on what can only be described as a food bender for multiple days and it would certainly become REAL fat. I think it's important that we're honest with ourselves and realize what got most of us to the point of body altering surgery. We talk about scales lying to us. They don't. They're an honest measurement of our body composition. Whether it be fat, water, or muscle it IS the truth and personally I NEED to be cognizant of what reactions my body has to my actions (positive or negative).

I am almost 3.5 years post op and still could not eat as much as your cousin ate. I actually feel a little sorry for him as he is on the fast track to weight gain and obviously did not take this surgery as seriously as it needs to be taken. This surgery is a chance to make changes and start over again. I am far from perfect, so I would never claim to be. I do, however, still follow a lot of a general "rules". I never counted or tracked, but I cut back on "bad" carbs and still do not eat/rarely eat rice/pasta/bread. I rarely drink with my meals. I never drank pop much before, and I now rarely drink it because it still hurts my stomach. I eat Protein and veggies first. I do eat treats sometimes, and I have and probably always will mess up here and there and over do it. But what has made it easy is it is always fairly easy to get back on the right track. I think it is not so following a strict set of "rules", but making it a lifestyle change. So many have said it, so I will only echo that it is a tool to work with. The sleeve will not do everything for you.

Did liquids today? Exercised this morning...on the right track again...leaving for FLorida on Thursday...want to lose a few pounds...know I will be eating out a lot while I'm there and don't want the weight gain.

When we are in the hospital for surgery, generally we can be administered antibiotics to prevent wound infection. This is not a bad thing. There are a lot of bad bacterial germs floating around in a hospital setting. Most surgical procedures do not require prophylactic or postoperative antibiotics. However, certain patient-related and procedure-related factors alter the risk/benefit ratio in favor of prophylactic use. Patient-related risk factors suggesting need for antibiotics include Certain valvular heart disorders Immunosuppression Procedures with higher risk involve areas where bacterial seeding is likely: Mouth GI tract Respiratory tract GU tract In so-called clean (likely to be sterile) procedures, prophylaxis generally is beneficial only when prosthetic material or devices are being inserted or when the consequence of infection is known to be serious (eg, mediastinitis after coronary artery bypass grafting). Choice of antibiotics is based on the Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) guidelines (see Perioperative Management). There is strong evidence that standardizing antibiotic choices and adhering to SCIP protocols or another standardized and validated protocol reduce the risk of surgical infection. Some regions of the US that followed SCIP guidelines were able to decrease surgical site infections by 25% from 2006 to 2010. Drug choice is based on the drug's activity against the bacteria most likely to contaminate the wound during the specific procedure (see Table: Antibiotic Regimens for Certain Surgical Procedures). The antibiotic is given within 1 h before the surgical incision (2 h for vancomycin and fluoroquinolones). Antibiotics may be given orally or IV, depending on the procedure. For most cephalosporins, another dose is given if the procedure lasts > 4 h. For clean procedures, no additional doses are needed, but, for other cases, it is unclear whether additional doses are beneficial. Antibiotics are continued > 24 h postoperatively only when an active infection is detected during surgery; antibiotics are then considered treatment, not prophylaxis. The Center for Disease Control has published guidelines for prevention of surgical site infections that address topical and nondrug antiseptic measures (eg, bathing, sealants, irrigation, prophylaxis for prosthetic devices). Source: Prevention of Surgical Infections The antibiotics destroy not only the bad bacteria in the gut but also the good bacteria. Therefore I feel it is important to reestablish the good gut bacteria after surgery by using probiotics. I ran across an article this morning that discusses the relationship of gut bacteria and weight gain. While it has long been known that low dose antibiotics cause weight gain in animals, the mechanism by which they do this has been a mystery. Researchers are now beginning to zero in on the effect and their work may even shed light on the human obesity epidemic. Animals, like humans, have numerous bacterial species living in their gut. Believe it or not, there are more bacterial cells in our body than human cells. Of course, bacterial cells are much smaller than human cells. But their effect on our health may not be small. Some varieties of bacteria are more likely to cause the body’s immune system to swing into action, but usually different bacteria keep each other’s multiplication rate in check by competing for the same food supply. But if the bacterial balance is upset because an antibiotic reduces the numbers of one species more than others, an inflammatory response can occur. Such a response is linked with making our cells less sensitive to insulin. “Insulin resistance” means that glucose is less likely to be taken up by cells, and since it is the cell’s main source of energy, they crave an increased intake. This translates to a boost in appetite as the body strives to meet cellular needs. What all of this suggests is that some species of bugs in our intestine may contribute to weight gain more than others, and that these may become more prevalent when competitors are reduced by antibiotics. Of course, other factors may also play a role in altering the bacterial flora. The chlorination of drinking water as well as improved sanitation may influence both the type and the number of microbes that reside in our gut. Who knows, perhaps all that emphasis on getting rid of germs may be affecting our waistline. Is there any actual evidence for this postulated link between changes in gut bacteria and obesity? In one word, yes. When Martin Blaser, a microbiologist at New York university, fed infant mice doses of penicillin comparable to those given farm animals, he found that after 30 weeks these mice had put on 10-15% more weight than those not treated with the antibiotic. Furthermore, the mice that had been treated had a different microbial flora in their gut, with Lactobacillus, one of the “good” bacteria, having significantly decreased. When gut bacteria from these mice were introduced into mice had been bred in a totally sterile environment, and were therefore germ-free, they put on more weight than mice with the regular complement of microbes in their gut. While overconsumption of food is the crux of the obesity problem, one of the reasons why we eat too much, as we have now seen, may be due to the changes that have occurred in the microbial population of our gut. A study of ancient feces from caves, as well as from the intestinal tract of mummies, has revealed a microbial makeup that is quite different from that found in our guts today. Those ancient microbial populations are more similar to the ones found in chimps, gorillas and children in rural Africa than in the intestines of North Americans who are more likely to have been exposed to chlorinated water, antimicrobial cleaning agents and antibiotics. Maybe a partial answer to obesity is to repopulate our intestines with the bacteria found in ancient poop. Source: Bugs In Our Guts