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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.

My first "spouse" cheated on me from the moment we were together, and I blame a lot of my weight gain on her. I am an emotional eater, and man did I eat (and cut, and drug, and everything else I could do). Then on to the next one, who after cheating with me on her ex (I was desperate, fat and stupid, what can I say) was fine for about 3 or 4 years. Then she met a woman at work that she "clicked" with. They never got physical, at least that is what they said, I am still not sure if I believe it....but I moved on, and gained more weight. Now, I am with the true love of my life, and I know that there is no cheating because when I look into her eyes, the love I see reflected there is so pure and true...I mean, it is different. Having been with two people who did cheat, I can sense the difference. I would say that my weight has a lot to do with not feeling good about myself because of the cheating. I tried to make it so that "if she cheats, and she will, it is because I am fat, I can understand that".

Are you getting enough Protein in? Are you taking Vitamins? I know you are scared of gaining weight but I am afraid you might be sacrificing your health to be thin. Having an unfill does not necessarily mean weight gain, specially if you are being careful and consientious about your food choices. This is true if you are eating meat/proteins and focusing on getting more healthy foods in. It helps to be at the "sweet spot" but it sounds like you have bypassed it at the risk of your own health. You may see weight gain if you continue eating slider foods along with increased capacity that a looser fill provides. Slimfast might be helping you in the near term but may not be helpful over the long term. My doctor advised against drinking slimfast. She said that by taking in liquid/easy nutrition this way, it goes right through and I am not allowing the band to help me by giving me the full sensation. It is not very satisfying in the long run. I have been reading posts on different web sites for a long time. One recurrent them that I have seen that people who are too tight for a long time is lack of weight loss (not to mention the physical side effects). It doesn't have to be a large unfill, but something small may get you back to a more healthy diet and the additional weight loss you desire.

I'm 2+ years out, and I don't eat Pasta and haven't since surgery. I'm personally choosing to stay away from anything "white"--pasta noodles, bread, rice, potatoes. They are processed differently in our bodies which can possibly cause cravings and hunger (and weight gain). I eat pretty clean, because let's face it, eating the way I did before didn't work, right? I was morbidly obese and so unhealthy. The "little of this and a little if that" theory works great for most people early out pre op, because let's face it, you're going to lose some weight no matter what. But there's going to come a time when you can eat more, you're hungry more frequently, and can tolerate pretty much everything. So what's the better choice then? A cup of linguini or a cup of zucchini noodles? A cup of white rice, or a cup of a whole grain rice that's actually good for you? A peice of white, starchy bread with 150 calories,or a peice of grainy whole wheat bread with 80 calories? All that stuff adds up the further out from surgery we are and causes weight gain. I'm choosing to eat more deliberately, both for my health and for ensuring I'm maintaining my weight. I take pleasure now in being able to run a couple miles and fit into size 6 jeans, not just food. I'm not perfect, but I know if I stick to that 90-95% of the time, an occasional english muffin or piece of cake isn't gonna kill me. That's what "moderation" means to me.

Hi Friends, Just wanted to give you a status update. I am almost banded 1 year, June 6th. I had some issues last month and I couldn't hold down solids. I went to the doctor and he said that sometimes the stomach muscles can thicken around the band tightening it. So he took out 1/2 my fill and I promptly gained 4.5 lbs in 2 weeks. I am happy to report that I have now lost that 4.5 plus an additional 2.5. I am happy with my weight loss this year, although I do feel I could have lost more. I am down to 228 from a high of 282. So that puts me at 54 lbs in 11.5 months. I am an average loser. I also rejoined my gym about 3.5 weeks ago and since then I've lost 13 lbs. It is all part of my weight gain I had last month. I am really close to getting into a size 18 now. So that is what has been going on with me.

Thanks everyone. I look forward to reading and posting more often to this site. If I ever find the magic cure of estrogen and weight gain I will be a happy camper :clap2: How does one add the weight goal ruler? Thanks, Judy 7/22/05 Dr. Hamn 250/192/140

Howdy Judy! I'm from West Texas and was just banded on the 20th. Wish I had the answer for you on the hormone thing and weight gain. MY PCP tried me on some hormone stuff a few years back and I put on about 10 lbs in one week! I said FORGET IT! Maybe someone else is in the know on this. Sure is frustrating. Terry :confused:

Coming out of the shadows Hi - MojoCAMI here.. So I think I am going to be a November Sleever as I had my final decision appointment with my Surgeon yesterday, who gave me the all clear and stated i should hear from her scheduler in 24-48hrs. She also mentioned they usually schedule 1 month out from final decision. So for those who choose to read more I shall detail my journey thus far (not my whole life, Just the last 10-12 months) After finally making the personal decision to seek surgical support for weight loss, I only knew of 2 types Gastric bypass and that fill tube thingy they put around your stomach. I have seen folks at my job go through full gastric bypass and loose weight and some only lost a quarter of there weight and they are grumpy.. I have read far to many lapband forums (fill tube thingy) that ended in multiple trips to the doctor for more saline or 2nd surgery due to the band slipping off the stomach.. (noooo sir not for me).. so when I heard about the sleeve, saw some videos, did my research, chatted with actual people in person who had the procedure, i am now on the train to be sleeved. Why has it taken this long since first seeing my surgeon in October 2014? Well due to may weight at the time being 430lbs+ my insurance did not require the 6x medical weight loss visits, they wanted to fast track me, but i opted instead for the visits before going straight under the knife..Strangely all the staff asked why I wanted to do the visits vs jumping to surgery and my response was, surgery is here to help me, but I first must prove I can help myself. So once a month for 6 months i saw my wonderful Physician Assistant who threw tons of info at me from types of Protein poweders, to nutritional guides, free classes and most all, shared her struggle and connected with me as a person first, patient 2nd.. After the 6th visit I said I was ready for the surgery, i had gotten my weight down to 389lbs. they gave me all these labs to get drawn, i was feeling great about the decision, i proved I can loose weight on my own...and then about 2months later i came back for follow up on the labs and my weight went from 389lbs to 406 (stopped working the food plan).. Surgeon then stated I need to be at 397 to proceeded..I mentally plummeted, and my weight went from 406 to 412lb.. had a few primary care routine visits, weight went from 412 to 419lbs.. i was able to stop the hemorrhaging at 422lbs, but now I needed to loose at least 23lbs before i could move forward. Geeze...so i cancelled my next 2-3 visits and i told them i would not be back until I dropped this weight..that was in July 2015. I then started a mission- Breakfast and lunch = Protein shake, then dinner and a shot of vodka .. by September 1st I got to 410lb and by end of September I was 399.. visited my surgeon's Physician Assistant Sept 24th, and was cleared to proceed.. I got high-fives and way to go from all the staff who thought I would give up due to the weight gain. so now i sit at 397, waiting for the schedulers phone call to let me know when the 2 week pre-op will start, I am happy and mentally equipped for the days ahead. now some praise..This site is awesome, i have visited many different sleeve and general gastric bypass forums, but I find this to be the most active, most accurate and tremendous in its support of its member's. i hope to not only rely on some of that support but also give back where I can. Thanks for reading all that and I am happy to be here. ~MojoCAMI

So I assume you were stable on one medication a year ago at the time you had surgery and now you need two additional medications to be stabilized and your BS is giving you phentermine to counteract the weight gain. There has got to be a better option than taking all these drugs. Besides weight loss, has anything else happened to make you more emotionally unstable in the last year? If so, maybe that needs to be addressed. IMHO, you need a good therapist, good support in your life, good sleep and daily exercise. Psychiatrists are trained that the only way to manage mental illness is via medication and I agree with this for people that are psychotic, schizophrenic, bipolar etc. but people need more than drugs to become emotionally stable. I urge you to take control of your situation and not to believe that you have to take every medication a doctor prescribes. I am not saying you don't need any medication but it can not do the whole job by itself.

Ok, so here's the deal. Most meds will not "make you magically gain" if you don't actually put the extra calories in your body that are gonna drive weight gain. I say this cuz I know first hand. One of the worst drugs ever for weight gain cuz it def drives up cortisol and insulin is prednisone and even worse, IV prednisone! I was on IV prednisone for 3 months and during that time, actually LOST weight--about 60lbs. BUT, I was doing IF plus caloric restriction. And because I cut out high glycemic carbs and only focused on good lean protein, leafy greens, and low glycemic veg with a tiny bit of healthy fats, I was not hungry at all. I went into ketosis and that helped curb the hunger effects from the prednisone. I am also on Femara (a cancer drug that shuts down hormones and makes you hungry and increases insulin). I gained a crap ton of weight on this drug when I gave up and was eating my crappy diet. But in the last 18 months that I'm back on low carb/modified keto and eating a calorie controlled diet and doing IF -- I've lost 135lbs. So it is possible. My weight loss is slow. Only about 70lbs give or take since surgery in February. But I'm about 2lbs from first goal of 150 right now. It can be done!!!! Hang in there. Take your meds, feel better, move more, go low carb!!!! Eat those leafy veggies and lean protein and a bit of healthy fats!!! Drink lots of water!!!! You got this!

Indeed. And some groups are more at risk. It's not only chronically ill people, but also medical staff and e. g. the cashiers in grocery stores etc. etc. etc. - there simply are people who can't just stay home and hide. When anxiety strikes, "distraction" indeed doesn't tend to work. Plus, with all the hysteria one doesn't need a diagnosed anxiety disorder to freak out. Be exposed long enough and you're good to go. And honestly: "weight gain" is the least of my concerns now. I was like WTH?? when I read that post and just like... wow.

I asked my doctor about the pication. He is one of the best WLS surgeons in our area, and has been doing the sleeve for a long time- worked with the surgeon who developed it. He will NOT be doing the plication- he believes the problem with lack of blood flow will be common and these complications are the tip of the iceberg. I am not wanting to be a Debbie Downer, I am just relating what my doctor said. I had been very interested in the plication, as of course it seemed attractive to keep the rest of your stomach and reverse it when you reach your goal. Once he told me his feelings, along with some of the complications I have seen, I decided full heartedly on the sleeve. I also wonder, considering the fact for many of us surgery is the last resort after trying everything, if reversible surgery will mean lots of weight gain ultimately.

Hello fellow bandees. I was banded July 6 and am praying this works where all else has failed. :faint: It’s working at this point cause I sure don’t want to eat. My fear of vomiting has kept me from eating (should I say drinking ?) hardly enough to keep an ant alive. I really hate feeling icky all the time, but not as much as I hate not being able to control my weight gain. I truly believe my body has no set point and would just continue to grow and grow. It wasn’t always like this, but years of yo yo dieting, fasting and over eating has just confused the heck out of my system leaving me with several co-morbidities to go along with the fat body. This is my last ditch effort. I also want to thank everyone who’s posted on here with all your helpful ideas and supportive messages. I don’t feel so alone in this journey— just wished some of you lived near me so we could met and help each other find a life style befitting of the new us—I have to find something besides tv and snacking to entertain me. :rolleyes Walking is a problem for me because in addition to the weight I also have suffered from heal spurs for over 3 years-ouch. Nothing has worked on them-not shots, leg stretching exercises, pain pills, night splints; I really hope taking off weight will relieve some of the pain. Anyway, just want to say HI! :high5:

I really think this list is "at first". Once you find your sweet spot which can take to up to a year, your pouch will be able to tolerate about 1/4 cup of food. Thats when you'll be able to digest a little better. You just gotta remember to chew chew chew. Also, every doc. is different, like mine says NO dairy product ever...like ever. Not even almound milk or soy because it's a slippery slope to dairy which = weight gain. So everyone is different, you just have to be patient. It's hard, I know.

Hi Ladies, I am sorry to hear about the struggles and weight gain. I am right there with you! Mostly, I have been at the same weight for the last two months. I'll gain a few pounds and then struggle to lose it. I'm headed in for a fill soon. But I am looking at all the tickers showing all the weight loss. And I think about what that means in clothes size! I bet most everyone has lost 3 clothes sizes! And I think about where I was at last year and will take the slow progress. Hang in there. I am trying to up my exercise. i am registered for the SF half marathon in October. I'd hoped to loose more weight before then. I'll walk a lot of it but its a good goal for now! xoxo Melissa

I do not drink thru a straw, I take my prilosec without fail and I was doing so so so good up until now! I hope this is just really bad gas? I hope someone else has had something similar and I'm just worrying for no reason. I am using the restroom fine, drinking fine, not dealing with hunger issues, have even felt more energy. I just don't understand what this is and how I can fix it. Maybe I just needed to vent, maybe I'm pmsing really bad as I'm due to start this week and this is my first period since surgery? I'm on the pill, and I'm very regulated. I'm just really uncomfortable and trying not to work myself up. I had the lapband since 2007 until my revision and this past year was horrible for me with weight gain and vomiting and even constant nausea the three months prior to my revision. I have been so happy to be rid of the nausea, now this. What can I do to try to alleviate gas, so I can see if that's what this is? It just doesn't feel like gas would, at least before. I am just so dang bloated up.

Jeni, glad your feeling better. Don't worry to much about a little weight gain right now, you need good nutrition for proper healing. Just get a walk that will help with those extra calories. Keep us posted. Carol

Weight loss and weight gain is simple. It's calories in vs calories burned...we all know that. Sure, metabolism has some influence on that equation but every human still has a resting basal metabolic rate. Based on age and height/weight and activity level, it's a mathematical configuration that will tell you how many calories you need to maintain your current weight. If you eat more, you gain weight. I don't understand how a human being can eat at such a restrictive level, calorically speaking, and become morbidly obese. It's not that complicated and even if you had extremely poor metabolism, you still need at least 1,000 per day to pump blood through your heart and oxygenate your lungs, etc. Your situation is very interesting and suprising to learn about. Best of luck!

I agree with sleevesk about the therapist. A lot of people swear that they help so much. I wish I could find someone near me who specializes in disordered eating. I am 16 months post op and got down to my easy goal but not my dream goal. I am on medications that can cause some weight gain so they warned me that may happen. I would’ve been happy enough to maintain there but now I am dealing with some life stress and a medication change and my weight is already starting to creep back up. Not trying to scare you but I am an emotional eater and I know that this would’ve been easier if I had the tools that are learned in therapy. I say you have come this far, may as well do whatever you can to set yourself up for long term success.

Karen and I have the same Dr. and I was told by him that if you can not eat solid Protein all the time, you may be too tight. With this new fill I do not eat until around 11:00 am but it is all solid protein. Since yoou can not get liquids in until the afternoon..are you drinking enough Water? By what you described it doesnt look like 60 grams of protein a day? Not trying to be negative but most you described in the part of the day are either mushy foods or liquid calories . Losing two lbs a week is great but with the low ammount of protein you are eating you are most likely losing lean muscle mass which in the end will make you flabby.( according the the 2 nutritionalists and my Dr. I have seen since being banded) This is another reason the 60 grams of protein are so important to not lose lean muscle mass and to help curb your appetite and cravings. Here is an excerpt from the Inamed handbook that is valuable to your situation With the Lap Band system in place, you should be able to eat only small ammount so the food you eat should be as healthy as possible. Do not fill your stomach pouch with :junk: food that lacks Vitamins and other important nutrients. Your meals should be high in protein and vitamins and low in carbs. solid food is more important then liquid food or soft food. The lap Band system will have little or no effect if you only eat liquid or soft food. It passes through the stomach outlet very quickly and does not make you feel full. Here is another excerpt form the book If the adjustment (fill) results in too tight of a stomach opening you could have a hard time eating most foods, sometimes this causes people to avoid solid foods. They may drink liquid meals or soft food meals and this may result in weight gain. A band that is too tight may cause reflux symptoms and can also cause frequent vomiting. I hope this info helps you

Sounds like you are exactly on the right track to me. We have to learn not to be afraid of feeling a little hungry for a little while. The band is not supposed to mean that you don't feel hungry EVER. It is perfectly normal and perfectly ok to feel a little hungry as meal times approach. What the band is supposed to do is to stop you eating a meal sized for 3 people (as I used to do every night) and to stop you feeling like you're starving in between meals. By the time you tighten it up to the point that you feel no hunger at all, you are almost certain to be too tight and won't be able to eat properly, leading to dependence on generally high fat/high carb/high suger slider foods and weight gain. It's meant to be a tool, not a miracle cure, so it does require a little work on our part. I think you are doing exactly the right thing - controlling mild hunger before meals. When it starts to get to raging hunger or the meal sizes start getting large again, that's the time to tighten the band in another notch.

Like I said my psychologist is aware of how I am. And no I do not think eating a healthy homade soup everyday is a problem. You do not have to eat a ton of food to lose weight. Soup has a ton of nutrients in it including Protein. It is not canned food with tons of salt and preservative. In fact my nutritionist wrote down the recipe. I will continue to drink the 30 grams of Protein Drink as much as I can. My primary doctor will also check on me and I go to both a psychologist and a psychiatrist. So I am good. In fact it was my psychiatrist a gift for me to even get the surgery. Because she knew how much this weight gain bothered me. I am in good hands if my doctor seems any kind of life threatening issues he will make me get it reversed. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using the BariatricPal App

Pinenut - Thanks band buddy! I got on the scale this morning and there was no weight gain from last nights splurge . . . . no loss but . . . I am back on the plan and running the race to win! my plan is to reach my goal in a year. Keeping my eye on the prize and with Gods help it will happen!!

Depends on the goal weight you're talking about. The one I tell my team to prove that I have a realistic understanding of what my surgical outcome is likely to be? I punched in my numbers to an online outcome calculator, rounded down so that they had the opportunity to gently adjust my expectations. I don't remember what this number is, because I could not care less about it. The one I use for my usual calculations and plans at this stage? I used an ideal body weight calculator (there are a number of different equations) and picked the highest version to be realistic. The secret one that I rarely admit or factor into planning? It's the one above, minus 10% of the amount of weight I would have lost at that body weight to buffer against expected weight gain. I doubt I'll reach this one, it depends on how I feel and whether plastic surgeons have a minimum weight requirement. I dunno, it doesn't really matter all that much at this point. I have no idea how much weight will come off from plastics and top surgery, how much weight I'm stuck with because it's extra bone or organ tissue that supported my fat body, and how my transition would realistically affect those calculations anyway.