Search the Community

Hi Denise, I had my surgery because of weight loss but my co-worker had the gastric bypass to lose weight but most importantly it was a cure for her diabetes. I'm surprised that they aren't performing the bypass since your having problems digesting your food but that's why they are the doctors and I'm not Have you ever considered a raw food diet? You may find it beneficial. I've been researching the Hippocrates Health Institute for some time and they have a program I would like to attend plus they break down the benefits of wheatgrass which I used to grow but got away from it among other good habits that lead to my weight gain in the first place. I wish you well; take it one day at a time.

I’ll be honest I was confused when I look at these two pictures because I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be looking for in the first picture. You look so different!!! I know you’re frustrated but maybe it is some muscle weight gain? You look great!

I used to diet in preparation for occasions: weddings, graduations, reunions, summer season. The eating plans would start after my January birthday and I would follow strictly for a set period of time. I always considered this way of eating to be 'temporary', and that meant my efforts, results, successes were also 'temporary'. I am a regular at the gym, 4-5 times a week. I have made friends there and have been supported and accountable to them, and them to me. Including instructors. Though, I am clearly the heaviest one in the group. These people have seen me lose weight, gain weight, continue to come to the gym regardless of my size. Recently, one of these people, who has had weight loss success herself, said to me, "I am concerned that we have not been seeing you lose weight even though you are here all the time. In fact, I think maybe you have gained some?" I know her intent was to help and support, and that is the spirit in which I took her comment. But having it out there, said aloud, is exactly like seeing a photograph of yourself. The reality is harsh. The comment was not the catalyst, though. Just one of several things I have taken notice of recently (in the last year). I have noticed that several exercises are uncomfortable or impossible for me to do because my belly is in the way. My ankles and knees and hips are less forgiving and are often exhausted after exercise (which is regular) and I find that I am in some pain (not the good pain) daily. And at my last annual physical exam with my doctor, I have been asked to regularly monitor my blood pressure. I have not yet been diagnosed or medicated for high blood pressure - but I sure do not want to. So, I decided that I am going to do something about my situation FOR ME. Forever. Not for an occasion, not for a while, not until I get bored with it. I'm 14 days away from the next chapter in my healthy life. Wish me luck.

Well I’m still losing weight. I weighed 97.6 pounds today. I guess I’ll just blow away in the wind eventually. My doctor gave me a new medication that I started about three weeks ago called amitriptyline. I hear it’s an old-school anti depressant med that’s been around forever. I was prescribed this for sleep. For the last two years I have really struggled to stay asleep all night. I usually wake up around 2 AM in really bad pain and take a muscle relaxer. It’s an awful cycle to be in. This medication has allowed me to sleep all night. And wake up feeling much more comfortable and have less pain through the day. I also seem to be able to eat better although I am technically still losing weight according to my scale this morning. Some people have reported that it causes weight gain but for me that’s kind of a good thing. I am noticing that I’m eating larger portions now. And I just seem to be more hungry overall. So I’m expecting a turn around soon. I am OK at 97 pounds but I do NOT want to lose anymore weight. When I went to pick up the amitriptyline from the drugstore there was a lady picking up her medications and I overheard her say “is this the phentermine?”. I wanted to grab her and say no! Don’t do it! I took phentermine off and on for 20 years. I Personally think it damaged my metabolism although I may just be making that up. Oh guess what! I got invited to New York fashion week! I am going to this really cool show that’s being held at JFK airport on the runway. It’s a week from tomorrow. I haven’t bought a plane ticket or a dress or anything but I’m really going to try to make it. I’ll share some pictures if I end up going! Thanks everybody for sharing your updates. Can’t believe we are Days away from our surgaversary month! Wow!

I know from family members' experience that your bipolar meds can and do cause weight gain. Talk with your doctor about your medications and see if there are other, effective options for you that don't have such a strong side effect profile in weight gain. Definitely stay on them until you talk with him/her, but there are a variety of medications that have more or less weight effect--your doc should be able to help you with that choice. Best wishes!!

Bornagainbabe, Nikki & everyone else out there whose having problems with weight gain- I want to express my sincere "thanks & gratitude" for sharing your stories. So often we hear about the success stories & no one is brave enough to talk about their struggles. I knew that this wouldn't be an easy journey. I appreciate you stepping forward & take comfort in knowing there are people to share my strengths & weaknesses with. Although I am only 4 mos out, I have had my fair share of ups & downs. This concerns me that the road ahead is going to be a bumpy one, one i have traveled many times. Many do not know this but I'm ready to share, in hopes this may help someone else. I am a bulimic, once getting down to 102 lbs. I went to therapy for years.. Ive got a grip on my disease, at the moment. I later found out it caused a condition known as gastroperesis (stomach paralysis). I eventually gained weight over the years but it's so easy to let food have a powerful hold on me & my weight climbed up to 180. Due to comorbidities & the gastroperesis I had VSG. I am currently off most meds, know what I need to do, but still struggle daily with a never ending battle within myself. You can overcome your inner demons by taking one step at a time. I wish each & every one of you the best of luck in your journey & take comfort in knowing we are here for each other.

New to the forums, and I have my date for 1/27 in Monterey, CA. I had tried to go through this route previously with Kaiser, but my surgery kept getting 'postponed' due to weight gain (after - surprise - multiple medication changes). Since I have my date booked, I'm starting to mini-stock the pantry and prep for a week or two of pre-surgery liquid diets. Just so I'll be somewhat aware of what I can expect right off the bat.

There are a few things that really made me decide to have WLS. I am getting married in August 2016, and my fiance is British. We've been together for over seven years (I am 30) and lived together in the US for three. I was around 150lbs when we met and started dating. I was diagnosed with bipolar about a year into our relationship and my doctor perscribed a medication called Zyprexa, which is great for someone having a severe bipolar episode...but it is notorious for weight gain. I think I gained 5 pounds by simply filling the perscription! In my year taking it, I gained 100lbs with no change to my diet or exercise. I was very active...I played rugby and soccer, and I ate a low-carb and low-sugar diet. No matter what I did, the weight kept piling on until I visited my psychiatrist and told her I wanted to try something else because I was so incredibly depressed due to my weight gain. She swapped me to a new medication, but a lot of damage had already been done. The Zyprexa combined with some of the other medications I was taking essentially destroyed my metabolism, making it pretty impossible for me to lose weight no matter what diet and exercise plan I went on. Fortunately, I am now on medication that is weight-neutral, so I have not really gained anything more. I could not play rugby or soccer any longer because all my excess weight made running EXTREMELY hard on my joints, and giving that up was incredibly painful for me. I still tried to lose weight on my own over the course of several years, but nothing helped, including physician-supervised metabolic weight loss. I visited my fiance last May-June, and I could barely walk into town. Getting around London was an absolute nightmare. I started looking at WLS options on my own, but was far too afraid to actually go to a seminar or talk to my family about it. This August, I went to the bridal shop to buy my wedding dress. They did carry larger sizes (I am an 18-20 at the moment) so I was able to try on quite a few. I found the PERFECT dress, and while my parents and the bridal consultant said I looked beautiful...all I could see was how overweight I was. I *did* look pretty in the dress, but when I stared at myself in the mirror, I kept thinking how much better I would look and feel if I was able to lose some of the weight. A few days later, I mentioned the idea of WLS to my parents, who were very supportive of my decision. I was still very afraid because it is a pretty major surgery in my book, but a close friend of mine had the VSG a few weeks earlier and told me that it didn't hurt quite as badly as she thought it would, and she was recovering quickly. Not only that, but she was losing weight and feeling much, much better. I decided to look into it more seriously and attended a seminar...and I decided that it was the solution for me. I went into my surgeon's office for a height and weight check, and I qualified for WLS. After speaking to the program coordinator, I decided to go through with the surgery and made my first appointment. I will be seeing Dr. Sebastien this Tuesday, and I am incredibly excited and nervous at the same time. I feel like there is a light at the end of the tunnel and I will finally be able to lose the weight so that I can get back to doing the things I enjoy as well as look great in my wedding pictures! Sorry for this long winded diatribe...I haven't really shared whis with many people, and once I started writing, it just kind of flowed out. xx, Polara

My last straw was a couple of years ago. I kept getting tired of buying new clothes (bigger sizes), taking HBP meds, being uncomforable and being disguted at my image in the mirror. I started to do something about it too, even went to a surgeon for the lapband, but shortly thereafter, I had a reoccurrence of cancer. So that was postponed, from there it was two long rounds of chemotherapy. Meanwhile, I kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger... I ate mostly from depression and self-isolation... I had lost four people very close to me to cancer within a year's time, plus I had to deal with my own cancer issues.. truth is, I had completely given up and just ate and ate and ate..like I wanted to die too.. I thought what the heck, we are all going to die anyway--then my doctor put me on an anti-depressant last Christmas and I started to feel much better..even while currently in chemotherapy. I finished chemo this past may and knew it was time to do something; to get serious and to take control of my life and my actions. I must say, I am also completely tired and fed up with wearing out the thighs of all my pants too.. I am embarrassed to be this size..this is the largest I've ever been and I'm uncomfortable, my knees hurt, my feet and back ache and I now have urinary stress incontinence attributed to my weight gain! My blood pressure stays high even w/meds (PCP added another pill today to bring it down or I won't be able to have surgery), my feet and ankles swell..ugh.. I'm just ready to get this party started... I want this weight off.. and I'm ready to tackle it...seriously. In a way glad the lapband didn't happen back then, going for the sleeve now and the process with my insurance company is much quicker than it was before, now its immediate approval with my health issues as opposed to a 6 month wait... Gotta look at the bright side... Thanks for reading...

I take opioids too. I have 5 bulging discs and have had back pain my whole adult life. I literally can not bend even a little without holding on to something. It's very debilitating. I thought it would get better with weightloss and I could get off the pain meds but no such luck. In my experience I think they contributed to my weight gain. Right now I'm dealing with struggling to stay on track. I've dabbled a little in forbidden foods, but not excessively. Last night for the first time I ate 4 cookies and it had 280 calories. I don't know what I was thinking. I have 85 pounds to lose and it is such a struggle now that I can eat more. Wishing you the best!

Hello! I didn't have a Mirena removed post-op (my VSG surgery is scheduled for 11/22, so I am still pre-op!), but I HAVE had a Mirena IUD removed previously. I had it replaced with a copper ParaGard IUD (which does not have any hormones) because the Mirena hormones were causing me to have cystic acne and other weird hormonal stuff (more ovarian cysts, etc.!), and I can confidently say that the removal did NOT cause any weight gain. Hopefully that is at least slightly helpful for you to hear! You may want to ask in one of the post-op forums for other experiences, as well!

Howdy, All. Another glorious day in Mtg lending... DH & I spent yesterday doing yard work... the weeds are all mowed and I spent some time digging up the volunteer and squirel planted trees... That stinking Crepe Myrtle is the very devil. It grows from seed, AND the existing plants spread systemically - the roots are everywhere. ARRRRGH! I was able to get a couple of them completely out - roots and all - and I tamed the remaining bushes until I have the energy to go out and battle them again. Once a yard gets away from you, here, you might as well just get a flame thrower... it's nuts how awful my lawn is. Maybe I will put in a BIG patio..... So, today, every muscle in my back, butt & legs is SCREAMING every time I move. Nothing like spending several hours bent at the waist, pulling weeds and roots... *sigh* I guess I need to do yard work more frequently, eh? I think we are going to dedicate a day per weekend - at least that's what we are saying today... But you know how that goes. :] Kat - you won't get VERY lost... highway 20 is pretty easy to follow - and if we meet you part way, you won't even have to come into the big city. I am very excited. Now, when are you coming? I took about a minute of French - and I can fake it on the pronunciation - but it was too confusing to learn two languages that are SO similar. It messed me up with both languages pronunciation... so I dumped the French and devoted myself to Spanish. Mandy - I think I would have been quite surprised if "Flushed Away" DIDN'T have any toilet humor... it would seem to be expected in that particular film. Obviously I haven't been keeping up with my kid movies. I haven't seen any of these, yet. Chris - Don't worry too much about making any decisions regarding Andy... I think, in the end, you will find any decisions to be made are pretty obvious. Don't overthink it - just go with the flow and enjoy. Hugs! Eileenie - how awful to hear about such a horrid thing on a day dedicated to jokes! Hugs! So, how do you score a 4 day week? Did you take Good Friday off? Does your company give it as a Holiday? Spring has sprung, here, too. My peonies have big ol' pink buds on them. I should have flowers in the next day or two. LOVE peonies. St. Sherry - I think I like that... LOL! Sorry about the weight gain... Do you need a fill? Or have you just been eating around the band? I find my self eating more than I need on a pretty regular basis... which explains the fact that my scale is not budging from 287. *sigh* So, you are a Rieki Master, now... can you focus your Rieki energies toward weightloss? Or is that more of a spirit vs body thing? Betty - it truly was a fabulous day to be outside, yesterday, too. The sun was shining and it was lovely warm - but not scorchy at all. Ahhhh. Dianne - lol! Wouldn't THAT be something... AF Day passed me by, thankfully! I don't like practical jokes very much... and I am not in any mood to be surprised, these days. Hope that swelling goes down, soon. I know you are anxious to see what "the girls" will look like once they are at their normal size. Hugs!!! Cindy - MMMMMMmmmmm - crab cakes! Love those things... I would probably eat more than one... you are so good! I am going to have to try this "chess pie" stuff one of these days. It sounds so yummy! Darcy - if you skip exercise for an entire month, does that make you an exercise virgin, again? *sigh* OK - ZERO miles for March... so my YTD total remains 38 miles. How pathetic. Patty - HUGS!! I am glad DM is there to help out. I wouldn't fret TOO much... it will take the boys most of their vacation to figure out how to get into too much trouble... :] Hopefully, anything they get up to won't be permanently damaging. Well, I have lots more Spanish to study... I can't remember future or past tense verb forms, at ALL - so right now I speak a very limited version of pigeon spanish. Not so good if I want to teach the stuff. Back to the books! Hugs & Love to All!

Congrats to all of you. You are all doing such a wonderful job. I didnt realize how pregnancy and gaining weight were going to affect me. I go up and down 5 pounds, but I have put on about 4 inches around my waist. I am pregnant with twins, not for sure if I told you guys that or not. I have moments when I get down about weight gain. I am eating like crazy and still have all my fill. I guess I was just going so hard at losing weight that now I am having trouble adjusting to the fact that I am suppose to gain. I know in the end I will be able to get back on track. And wow, who would have thought how far we would have come in 6 months!!

Thanks for the update Kendra, all sounds really good. The weight gain you can work on, that's an ongoing project! :shades_smile: Many of the Nov Nymphs have been away from the board and have come back recently. Most of us a doing well but not without some hiccups on the way. Good luck with the chemo and keep in touch! :teeth_smile:

It is so good to hear from you Simply Southern. Keep your chin up! By now it can only get better! Lisa, I'm so sorry that you are going through all of this! Hopefully your doctor can finally figure everything out for you soon! I too am now struggling with some weight gain. It helps to come on hear and read everyone elses issues, and they are not far from our own. We are all truly blessed to have a brand new lease on life! 2013 will rock for us all!

Congrat AuriP on getting your walks in. Just got caught up reading all the posts since Beni started this group. Lots of good tips. Thanks Beni for starting this group it helps me keep focused on the long haul. No more struggling up steps, no more airplane seat extenders, no more buying clothes I really don't like just because they fit, no more giving excuses to get out of day trips that consist of walking more than 2 blocks, no more Cpap, no more Pre Diabetes & no more yo yo dieting & weight gain. KarenAllen you got this .... You'll be home soon. October is a great month to finally win the battle!!

Alot of nutrients are absorbed in the small intestine. The reason for not drinking fluids with the meal is so that the food isn't flushed down to the small intestine where your stomach isn't giving a full signal, therefore, we eat more. That could add to increased weight gain or no weight loss at all.

Danal, I eat about 600 cal with no,carbs other than veggies. I still need to exercise though. I weigh 300 lbs and should be dropping fast bit I,am not. My doc and nutritionist think it is because I take a lot of 3 different antipsychotics that are known for weight gain. I haven't given up though. Besides,,I can't eat much anyway.

I suspect what happens is this: Food only comes in three varieties..protein, carbs, and fat. After gallbladder removal, fats are usually limited, leaving people with protein and carbs. Protein is usually pretty stable in people's diets, so they increase the carbs.. Voila.. weight gain. The way to minimize this is by replacing fats with veggies. But it's worth considering not getting rid of fats completely, rather just spreading them out a bit thinner through the day. You can ask the Dr. if Actigall might help. It's good for prevention and treatment of gallstones.

Great story! I wish you much success. I am working on this too. In states with insurance. I was sleeved 9/2014. My issue is not just weight gain. I have sever GERD. It's just sucks. I am in pain most of the day. However, I believe it will be resolved. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using BariatricPal mobile app

Hi, I was just reading your post and thinking maybe you should try upping your calories for a while, then cutting down again. Upping your calories alot will jolt your metabolism into action. I would try upping them to maybe 1,500 or so for like two days, then dropping down again. Milkshakes, ice cream, or even those weight gaining powders will do. It sounds like your metabolism is shut down and isn't burning anything. I remember that my doctor gave me this advice and it would work wonders. I would always lose when I would up my calories for just a day or two. In fact, he recommended a diet where you eat 1,000 for three days, 1,200 for two days, 1,800 for two days, then repeat the whole cylce. When I could stick to it it worked the best. Your metabolism needs a jolt. Also, have you tried sustained exercise where you get your heart rate up to your target range and then sustain that range for 30 minutes every day? I bet if you try regular intensive exercise and upping your calories for two days then drop back down, you will see that scale move.

I am the only overweight person in my family. My father theorizes that I overate because the first 3 months of my life I was always hungry. Everything that they tried to feed me made me sick and I would vomit it back up. I cried all the time because I was hungry until I started on a pre-digested soybean formula, which finally did the trick. When I was in my 20's I saw an overweight psychiatrist who had a similar story about herself, only her deprivation was caused by a sadistic nanny. So who knows? That same psychiatrist put me on Elavil (an older anti-depressant that was notorious for causing massive weight gain--although I didn't know that) and I put on 60 pounds in a year. Then she warned me about it. Also I have a mood disorder that started in childhood: severe, recurrent depression that started at age 7 and much later I was dx'ed with bipolar disorder. Hopelessness and binge-eating "feed" off of each other quite well. My psychologist of 12 years would not write an approval for the band because she feared that I might suffer a psychotic break if I lost food abuse as a coping mechanism. So far, so good. That said, I and only I chose to put every single bite of food into my mouth. It was always a choice, even when I felt powerless. Nothing compelled me to do it.

Alicesandra, Weight gain is unwelcomed no matter how it arrives. I'm empathize with the pain of being overweight. After reading your post, I'm prompted to respond because from everything I know about the function of the band as a tool, it doesn't sound like it is the correct solution for you. The band works best to help those of us who tend to consume too much food to refrain from doing so. If you aren't consuming enough food, what are your expectations from band surgery? Congratulations on the weight loss!

I had been a skinny kid until the third grade, when being the smartest kid in school started causing problems with peer relationships. It all went downhill from there, and I used food as a source of pleasure in my life to blunt the fact that other kids didn't like me. My father died when I was 14, and the role of food as a source of pleasure and satisfaction increased. However, I played sports and was able to keep from being obese. During college, I was broke a lot since I was working my way through school, and I learned some very bad eating habits. I went from mild overeating to full on gorge myself when I had money to eat. That led to eating until I couldn't breathe or felt completely stuffed instead of eating until I wasn't hungry anymore. However, I was very active with activities and walking 5 miles or more every day on campus, so I managed to hold off any weight gain. After college I got a tech support job working at a desk 8 hours a day and went from wearing size 38 pants to size 50 on my wedding day in just 3 short years. I have worn size 50-52 pants since then. My basic problem is the inability to be satisfied unless I'm stuffed to the gills. I've trained myself that I'm either hungry or stuffed. I've been working on fixing this, but it's hard. It's hardest when I miss a meal because I have a hectic work schedule that dictates how I spend my time and sometimes means I miss scheduled meal times, and I get so hungry that I overeat and then some when I do eat. I've tried eating six smaller meals throughout the day, and it helps when I can stick to the schedule, as I never get so hungry that I go nuts. So, my food issues are psychological, even though I blossomed socially when I as a teenager. That, coupled with my sedentary lifestyle has resulted in me being 365 lbs. I carry a lot of muscle, but I'm still very much morbidly obese and fat.

Well I have a bit of a hiccup to report. After suffering some pretty bad migraines, and not really being a migraine kind of person, my doc sent me for an MRI just to make sure I was all good. Long story short....I found out Friday that I have a tumor on my pituitary gland. It is benign, so praise the Lord. But it will have to be removed surgically as it is causing my headaches and messing with my hormones. And YES it is causing me to be completely unable to lose weight! And my acne that I'm suffering from! So now I'm waiting to hear from a neurosurgeon to get a consult and surgery scheduled. While I'm terrified and dumbstruck that I have this tiny alien growing in my brain, I am relieved to know that there is a reason I have been stuck at the exact same weight for months. In fact, I would bet money that had I not had the sleeve, I would probably weigh close to 300 pounds now because excessive weight gain is a side effect of this. Life can never be simple, can it?