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it's not uncommon for WLS patients who've lost a lot of weight to have skin rashes from the excess skin (although this would be under the skin "folds", not everywhere..), but I haven't read about this on this or other bariatric boards about skin issues from vitamin deficiencies. Although I just quickly googled it, and rashes and other skin issues CAN be a symptom of various vitamin deficiences. Here's one of the articles I found (below). It looks like it can be caused by any number of vitamin deficiencies, so it's hard to tell which one it is in your case. Did they test all levels? It also says they can happen to people who have malabsorption issues or have had G/I surgeries. Again, I haven't read about this on bariatric boards (and I've been hanging around on these for about seven years), so it's evidently not a common issue, but it's certainly possible that could be what's going on in your case. https://www.ccjm.org/content/83/10/731

My surgery was ~8 mos ago. I've started having very itchy skin all over my body... legs, arms, chest, abdomen, etc. Everywhere except my face. And there are some areas that have red 'bumps'. They look like a teen breakout but they're not actually pimples, and I haven't had breakouts for > 20 years. If I'm not paying attention, I scratch so much that I end up with huge hematomas/ scratch marks in large areas. The areas with the 'bumps' are most itchy but I'm essentially scratching everywhere depending on the day. I thought it was dry skin but moisturizing hasn't helped. And I've never had this type of problem before during any season. I've lost just over 55lbs or almost 30% of my overall starting weight, and just over 80% of my excess body weight. Not sure if this is even related to the surgery/ weight loss, but my partner remembers we were told something about skin issues if there is some sort of malnutrition after surgery, but we don't recall the details. My latest lab work was essentially ok except for still very low ferritin and vitamin D, which are both HIGHER than pre-surgery because I'm taking the supplements so those don't seem related to my issue. I think Vitamin A was normal as was everything else. Has anyone else been told of any specific deficiencies that may lead to these skin problems, like itchiness and bumps? What specific nutritional deficiencies have you been told may cause this? Thanks!

Things are going very well. No goals since it was more about my Gerd which seems to be resolved (Yay lol). I'm 28 lbs. down now, and I think the revision was the best thing I could have done for myself. As my surgeon said after my post-op appointment... It's already a win then if my Gerd is gone. I did bring up the fact that I can't eat very much and my calories are 500-700 cal. at best and he said "Good. Keep it that way for awhile to lose more weight." That's about all he said lol. One thing that has helped my appetite or lack thereof, is I can sleep much better because I'm not constantly waking up with acid in my throat anymore. Waking up and not being able to sleep always tempted me to munch on something for energy instead of sleep. Thank you so much for asking!

I am one week after lapband removal after 19 years. I had to have an iron infusion as my iron was extremely low. Apparently iron deficiency and in many cases nutritional deficiency is a consequence of bariatric surgery (good to be aware of) as no one tells you this. I had very little weight loss on lapband surgery. I am so glad to be rid of it. Very sick of the intermittent choking and vomiting. Very annoying. I wish everyone all the very best on their decisions - I think I would rethink lapband surgery (unless it has changed dramatically in the last 19 years). Good luck.

Hi there! I am so sorry for the late reply.......life has been challenging this past month. Did you have your surgery in August? I hope you did and that all is well. Please let me know. I am doing well....still no reflux! My weight loss is much slower than I would like. I weighed 225 on July 15th when I started the pre-op liquid diet and lost 6 lbs. On surgery day, July 22nd, I weighed 218. So I have lost 18lbs in 7 weeks and a total of 25lbs. My surgeon reminded me that my goal is to lose a total of 50-60lbs so I've actually lost about 50% of my goal. That perspective turned around my thinking and I am more optimistic. I am currently in a 9 day stall. Hopefully I will enter the 100's soon. I am going to increase my water intake, exercise and protein this week and pray the scale moves downward.

So one thing I’ve learned is that the dont’s vary WIDELY between each Bariatric doctor/clinic. The do’s are pretty much the same; mainly, focus on protein and water consumption. The dont’s and other instructions after surgery for me (per my doctor) includes NO ALCOHOL; no drinking from straws; no chewing gum; no carbonated drinks; no caffeine; no beef/red meat for the first year; deconstruct every meal; every meal to be low cal; no drinking liquids for 15 mins before and 30 mins after a meal; chew your food for 30 seconds before swallowing; eat your meal within 30 minutes; exercise/weights at least 3x a week. TAKE THE PRESCRIBED VITAMINS EVERY DAY WITHOUT FAIL - especially thiamin. Soooo - I’ve lost 140lbs - sleeved December 2019. ONE OF THE TOP BEST DECISIONS OF MY LIFE. Wish I did it sooner. I struggle now with the type of foods I put into my body - I have a hankering for chocolate and cookies. 😩 BUT! 99% of the time it’s because I’m bored and will mindless eat. I have to reel it back in. It will always be a recurring process for me.

Hey fellow Wisconsinite! I just had to say I can relate to many things you are saying. I had my band removed 3 years ago after 10 years. I was amazing to to eat a cheeseburger with a bun! I couldn’t have a revision at the time because my BMI was too low, but after too many cheeseburgers I am scheduled for RNY in October. I also had/have issues with acid reflux. If I could have done it 3 years ago I would have and not had to go through all of the weight gain.

I have BS of CA PPO and also got the gastric sleeve. If you have a bmi of 40+, then you qualify. If you have a bmi of 35 with at least one comorbidity, then you will qualify too. They require a psychological evaluation, nutritional support, proof that you have attempted to lose weight in the past, particularly within the past 3 - 6 months (primary doctor can provide that information - pretty much just showing weight loss and weight gain again). I also had to do multiple tests, but that was due to my surgeon's requirements, not insurance. My surgeon's office told me that Blue Shield of CA is one of the easier insurances to work with. They don't make you have to jump through as many hoops as other insurances. Once my paperwork was submitted along with all my requirement documentation, I got approved in less than a week. Here is a link to a pdf on Blue Shield of California's website. It shows the requirements for weight loss surgery, to help give a more thorough idea. https://www.blueshieldca.com/bsca/bsc/public/common/PortalComponents/provider/StreamDocumentServlet?fileName=PRV_PA_Bariatric_Surgery.pdf

My Surgery date is for 9/13/2021 8am I am very excited and nervous! I had a week of liquid diet which was very hard for me! Im praying my liver did shrink some. I'm just preparing my mind, body, and soul for tomm morning! Im ready to get rid of this excess weight, sleep apnea, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol! Wish me luck! I pray for you and you pray for me🙏🏿🙏🏿!

Hi, I have had the lap band for a little over 10 years. I had lost 100 lbs but gained 30 back. I recently found out my band migrated. I was having severe acid reflux, regurgitation, and sleepless nights of choking and puking. I finally had some testing done & they found my band migrated and there was a hernia above it and my lower esophagus was having issues pushing food through. I got my fluid taken out on Friday & I am finally able to sleep again. I am really shocked about how strange it is to be able to eat things I wasn't able to for 10 years, I am also enjoying taking a drink while eating. I am going to revise to the gastric bypass surgery & was wondering if anyone has had better success after a revision from the band to bypass? I can't do the sleeve because of my acid reflux issues. I tried to avoid bypass, as to why I had the band to begin with. Something about moving my insides around didn't sit well with me. I also see horror stories about dumping and blood sugar issues. I don't want to gain all my weight back because of a band issue & also don't want to have a removal of one thing and nothing to replace it. I am not sure how fast this will all go, they said they could do emergency surgery if I was still having issues, or do it as a normal surgery. My insurance covers revision. Hopefully soon before I gain all this weight back. I'm enjoying trying different foods I had to avoid for the past 10 yrs. hahahaha.

I had lots of second thoughts. I was a lower BMI and I kept wondering if I should try one last time to lose the weight myself. But reality is I did just try one last time (I just didn’t know it was the last time) and I stalled and gained it all back as usual. Post surgery I didn’t have any regrets at all. Probably because I didn’t have a lot of pain of complications and I can eat everything I did before. Some people do have regrets immediately post op but that goes away the first month or so for most people.

Congratulations on getting started on this path. Many people on here say it is weird, but somehow easier to lose weight once they have made up their mind to do surgery. I guess there is something to that. Less stress and cortisol or just more drive from being hopeful but it seems to help many people. Just one or two small changes and you should be able to drop 20 pounds eventually. How long do you have to wait? Do you have the 6 months monitored weight loss??

See if your bariatric group has a therapist they recommend who works on food addiction issues with folks who have had weight loss surgery. Get someone on the job who is better aligned and more knowledgable about your needs.

It really depends how much you like what your current therapist is doing outside of the weight topic. If you feel like you want her to be in your life, then just don't talk to her about weight loss and use bariatric support groups for that. If she's turning into one of these preachy, teetering-on-the-edge-of-anti-science types, maybe now's a good time to thank her for what she's done for you and find someone who aligns better with your goals. It is YOUR life and not open to anyone's—not even your therapist's—judgment.

My therapist didn’t agree with the surgery either. He thought it was the easy way out. I just told him we would have to agree to disagree cause I was doing it and I don’t really talk much about my weight loss with him. He did call to check on me after my surgery and he asks how I’m doing but when I was looking to talk to someone about boredom eating I went elsewhere.

I'm in the beginning process of my bariatric journey, had my information session a few weeks ago and my big appointment with the surgeon, nurse, nutritionist, etc. is coming up in 3 weeks. So excited! I've been thinking about this health and wellness renewal with bariatric surgery for several years now. I've also been on a journey with my mental health (anxiety & depression) for about 4 years and have made some wonderful progress. I have a good support system of doctors but lately my therapist is making me scratch my head. For those of you on your journey - or that have experience - tell me about your journey with your mental health along with the bariatric surgery process. What I mean by my therapist is making me scratch my head.....so, for the past several years, my therapist has helped me get to a place where I can work on myself and my relationship with my parents (suffered mental/emotional as well as some physical abuse from parents). I made so much progress in 2 years with this...true healing, feeling so much more confident and content with myself. This progress finally led me to go forward with realizing that I was ready to commit to wanting to help myself and begin my bariatric weight loss journey. So, when I brought this up to my therapist, her reaction was not exactly what I expected. (I've read about people's different reactions so I'm of course trying not to let this bother me and feel like I probably need to either move on or realize that's her opinion, not mine). Anyway, when I try to discuss my wants/needs regarding my request for help when it comes to emotional eating/overeating/breaking that psychological connection, she's not really wanting to go there with me. She gives me very little help and keeps saying, "maybe you just won't have this surgery"...and suggests calling local weight loss places that focus on holistic methods of weight loss, etc. that cost $$$. She keeps telling me I need to read all of these books on "miracle weight loss", "medicine is bad", etc. ...ok, so....I know if someone is offering you some "magic unrealistic" guarantee if you "buy their program" they will promise you guaranteed weight loss for life....Ok, that's not for me. I've been there, done that, time and time again. You know the story...the diets we've all tried, the books we've all read, the shakes, you name it. I'm pushing 50 years old...been around the block with weight loss, like all of us here and I'm just not buying it. But, I did try to hear her out. What I'm disappointed in is that I feel that this relationship with this therapist is not helpful. I think I probably need to find another avenue of therapy. I know my hospital offers some group therapy, which I plan on doing. I'm grateful for this website and forum for help and support. If anyone has any advice - therapy suggestions, books/podcasts, etc. to work on my mental health with the emotional eating connection - I would be so grateful. I am working hard already at trying to change these things for myself now so I can be successful. Thank you again for your help!!

I lost 30 pounds and four inches off my waist in 4 months (before even thinking about WLS) doing CrossFit, which is basically HIIT plus strength training. I can't speak for post-op progress since my surgery is this coming Tuesday, but honestly, I love the strength I feel from HIIT and strength training. And it will speed your body recomp. Make sure you're taking measurements and not just using the scale as a guide—muscle does weigh more than fat and so the weight loss might "stall" but the fat loss is still going.

For me, eliminating all processed sugars and white flour...had an immediate impact on my weight loss. I lost like crazy just doing these two things. I still ate a ton of carbs, but I ate good whole carbs with dietary fiber...beans, potatos, chickpeas, nuts, whole grains, whole fruits and veggies....and stayed away from white bread, processed foods, stuff with added sugar and no fiber like juices and jellies. I also eliminated processed products with fats, fried stuff, and fatty meats. Learned to put low fat plain yogurt and salt and pepper on my baked potatoes....replaced butter and animal fat in cooking with extra virgin olive oil. Everyone has a different diet they prefer...I tend to follow Mediterannian or Mayo Clinic diet. Getting your steps is brilliant and will get your metabolism going like crazy. I started at 5000 steps a day and gradually increased in little baby steps to 12,000 a day. I get 20,000 some days now because I really enjoy walking and being active...but most days are 10 to 12,000 now. Being active will help you so much. Best wishes! You got this!

Good carbs with lots of fiber keep my gut microbiota in balance, and are a hell of a lot healthier for my kidneys than ketosis. I eat good fats, good carbs, high plant protien, moderate animal protien, high fiber. Sustained goal weight for over 3 and a half years eating a metric feckton of a carbs:) I'm extra careful with my refined carbs, though. Very little processed sugar or white flour in my diet now (huge change from before). Almost all my carbs are from whole grains, whole fruit, beans, potatoes, other whole veggies now....but I do eat a lot of them. The occasional treat of refined stuff, but not too often. Maybe 200 calories worth once or twice a week. Carbs are not the enemy

Same. During weight loss phase and several months immediately after, I would just log the whole thing whether I ate it or not. I figured it was better to over-estimate than under. Now, I just try to guesstimate what i actually ate cuz I eat ALOT more these days, and if i logged the entire meals I serve myself I would be waaaaaay over.

I lost around 70 pre-surgery (and I didn’t follow a specific program - was just trying to lose weight on my own - lost 50 before I even met with the surgeon). I was around 227 the day of surgery and by month 7 had lost all of my excess weight. It’s definitely slowed down in the last couple of months but I am below my initial goal weight (which was in the “normal” BMI range). I’m now hoping to get down to 135 but it’s really slow now and getting these “mini-stalls” where I stay around the same weight for 2-3 weeks then have a couple of weeks where I lose 1-2 lbs, rinse and repeat. I’m exercising a lot though so that may be part of it - incorporated weights after about 10 weeks post-op. I do take my measurements once a month so I can see progress there even though it’s slowing on the scale. Good luck with your surgery - you got this!

Hello everyone. I am new to this forum. I had my Weight loss consultation on August 31, 2021. I am super excited and ready for this new journey. I’ve been overweight most of my adult life and now it’s time to regain control over my life. I’ve been given some guidelines to start implementing vitamins And at least three proteins shakes a day. I’ve been monitoring what I eat, making sure I get my steps in, and being mindful of my feelings and relationship the food. I was told I needed to lose 15 to 20 pounds prior to surgery. This is kind of stressful Being that I’ve been trying to lose 15 to 20 pounds for the past year and I’ve been unsuccessful. However, I’m going to continue to do my best, roll with the punches, And trust the process. Good advice is welcomed 🤗

I have never heard of anything like this. That is insane. I have just been approved and my BMI is around 39. I had my Lapband removed 3 years ago and my BMI was around 32 and I have steadily gained weight since then.

It took about 60 lbs before those that didn't know about my weight loss surgery to comment on my weight. One person even said to me, "um, I notice you've lost a lot of weight. Has it been intentional?" Now, I'm almost 3 yrs post op and just had my 2nd round of plastic surgery. I had a breast lift without implants and I'm sure the gossip is about that! I just went back to work last Wed and somebody already said to me, "they don't look any bigger!" I said to them, "see where my boobs are now? When I take my bra off, they stay in the same place!"

Still doing OK, in fact, better than OK. No more vomiting, and as long as I follow mindful eating, no more pain. Having the HH repair, instead of revision, has been amazing! I lost the 7 pounds I gained (and a few more) due to covid and am right back where I was, weight-wise, following my original surgery (FIVE years ago). I cannot imagine having had revision surgery, with the loss of the pyloric valve and risk of dumping. I am good.