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I had a I had a Lap band removal and vsg conversion in June 2014. I started at 252 as my highest weight and 237 as my surgery weighty. My lowest weight was 201. I followed the diet faithfully for almost 2 years and kept the weight off give or take a couple of pounds.. I found that's spinning was my favorite exercise and still is. I was active on and off the 4 years because of complication so with my knee and then plantar fascititis. The last year has been hard cause I my plantar fasciitis and lower back pain. ( which restarted since I've put on weight again) has been really bothering me... so new activities that I love like 5k and 8k runs... well their increasingly difficult to complete. I now weigh 248. Which is above my surgery weight. My GERD isa real problem... I still drink my proteins shakes... take my vitamins.. I eat most things but not in excess because of my sleeve...my weight gain has been a plateau for about for almost 2 years now.. I have not gained and only loose 5lbs here Andy there's and regain it back. I guess give the fact that I really didn't lose as much weight as I expected to with the vsg and gaining all that weight back, has me thinking that the malabsorption piece of weight loss surgery is the tool that would help me final loose weight and be healthier. This extra weight gain is causing me physical pain now and I wann do something about it.

Hi Everyone! I am a 35 years old. I've been married for 3 years and together with my DH for 12 years total. I was a marketing exec for a bunch of large Fortune 500 companies up until the end of October (60 hour work weeks, traveling, drinking too much, eating way too much, etc.). I am taking 6 months to take care of myself. The most important is my new band! I have struggled with weight gain since about age 23. It just creeped up every year until I am where I am today - 98 lbs of fat, sleep apnea, difficulty breathing, cholesteral creeping up, blood pressure creeping up, etc., etc. I finally gave in to my need for this change when I call home and my mom has had 2 mini strokes, a heart attack, diabetes all before the age of 60. I don't want to die young and/or be disabled by health problems before I can even collect my SS checks:-) I stuggle because my DH is handicapped and this has really prevented me from being the active person I used to be. As part of my 6 months of time off, I need to get adjusted to eating healthy with the help of my band and finding a way to exercise properly. The Merry Losers Rock!!!

It can be difficult to maintain especially if your not consistant and continue to follow this lifestyle change. I remember I was around 185 before my cruise next thing u kno 1 week later im back in the 90's! no way!!!! LOLThats too close to 200...I want to go as low as possible without looking sick. I do believe 160 will look good on me, so I can have a gap to play with (between 160-170 for weight gain) You always want to leave enough room to play around for weight gain bc nobody truly stays the SAME weight forever...If you want to stay away from the 200's, I would say 160 would be extremly safe. For a person whose 5'8, 160 is a good weight

I was doing real well and then I found out that I did not have to take any medison for diabeties, so as a result i begin to eat alot of ice cream and anything that will go down easy. I stop exercising and I had two bad experiences with being overfilled. Really for the past 18 months I have gain around 45 lbs. Probably the most important reason that I gained weight is I stop accessing this tremendous resource call the the Lap Band Forum. I got a fill on March 1, and started looking at the board again and am now back to watching what i eat and starting to walk a bit more. I feared that the diabeties would come back but it has not so I feel fortunate. I still am pleased with the lap band itself and even through the weight gain it still alot less then it would be of been in the old days where I would lose 50 lbs and gain 60 lbs.

I found this link. It addresses whole fresh fruit, fruit juices, and dried fruit. https://www.nationalbariatriclink.org/bariatric-blog/eating-fruits-gastric-bypass-surgery/ "After Gastric Bypass Surgery, there will be things you have enjoyed your entire life that your body will no longer be able to digest without discomfort. You will also have to give up some things that may seem healthy such as fruit juices, which are actually high in sugar content. About half of all Bariatric surgery patients can dilute fruit juices such as apple and orange juice and enjoy a glass now and then. Keep a close eye on your goal weight though, as these juices can quickly send you backwards on the scale. Your stomach may not be able to handle dried fruits after Gastric Bypass or other weight loss surgeries, most particularly dried cranberries, apricots and raisins. Again, this is due to the high amounts of sugar used to cure these dried fruits. After some time has passed after your Bariatric surgery, you may be able to indulge in and tolerate dried fruits again but use caution, watching for sudden weight gain."

I'm required to complete 90 days of the program which includes 2 nitrition appointments, psych eval, no weight gain among other requirements. What do you mean by "approved instution"? Do you mean the hospital must be approved?

I find myself posting this again because it helped me so much today. A good read. Think You Need a Fill? THINK AGAIN By Nikki Johnson Do you remember that feeling you had when you first had your band placed? For a while, everything was great. You didn't experience hunger, you felt satisfied with a small portion of good food, you had more energy, and you were thrilled with your initial weight loss progress. If you are like most people, your experience changed over time, Some of those feelings of hunger returned, and you stopped losing weight. You knew you needed something, so you went to your surgeon's office and asked for a "fill" right? If so, you might be surprised to learn that it is your thinking about your band, and not the band itself, that needs adjusting. The LAP-BAND Bad Word Paul O'Brien, MD, FRACS, is a skillful, compassionate surgeon and a foremost expert on the LAP-BAND System. he was involved in its design in the early 1990's and placed the first band in Australia in 1994. Since then, he has treated thousands of patients and is recognized worldwide for his expertise. When his patients utter that worst of four-letter words, "fill," in his office, they are asked to throw a dollar in the Red Cross donation bucket--a reminder that, according to Dr. O'Brien, thinking about a "fill" is just wrong thinking. How can a concept that we hear about so constantly be so very wrong? Dr. O'Brien's answer is simple: "Any adjustment to the band is something that only takes place in the context of clinical consultation--part of a relationship of trust, honesty and communication between patient and surgeon--that is much more key to the success of the patient than the precise number of milliliters of Fluid in the band. This concept of partnership is the central theme of Dr. O'Brien's new book, The Lap-Band Solution--A Partnership of Weight Loss. Patty's Note: Available on Amazon.com ISBN#9780522854121 Like many people, you might assume that weight gain or a sustained plateau means an incorrectly adjusted band; in fact, you may be right. But you may be surprised to learn that weight gain sometimes results from a band that is too tight. This is part of the reason why the "fill" concept is so misleading. If your surgeon determines that you are not losing weight as you should, then discovering why that is happening is crucial. Sometimes adding fluid to the band will only make matters worse. Life in the "GREEN ZONE" Most people who have the LAP-BAND operation will have an amazing feeling of disinterest in food for the first week after surgery, before any adjustments are even made to the fluid in the band. According to Dr. O'Brien, that lack of interest in food is referred to as satiety. A related but different feeling is satiation, or the feeling you get as you are eating, precisely at the point that you don't need any more food to eat but you do not have an uncomfortable feeling of fullness. These two feelings--satiety and satiation--are what the properly adjusted band helps you achieve, allowing you to maintain your new healthier eating habits. Your careful observation and truthful sharing of your feelings and eating behaviors, combined with the expert care and training of your surgeon and his or her staff, can make the very individual determination of whether your band is properly adjusted much more accurate. In order to help create the most effective partnership between themselves and their patients, Dr. O'Brien and his colleagues at the Australian Centre for Obesity Research and Education have developed a concept they refer to as the "Green Zone". When patients are in the green zone, they experience satiety, satiation after properly-sized small meals, and satisfactory weight loss or maintenance. However, there are also yellow and red zones, both of which indicate that the band is not optimally adjusted. If your band is too loose, you will not have the benefits the band's hunger-controlling mechanism. If your band is too tight, you will have trouble eating properly and may actually gain weight because the foods you can eat more comfortable, that tend to be liquid and calorie-rich, like ice cream and chocolate, do not provide the proper nutrition. Learning to recognize when you have the feelings and eating behaviors that signal a problem can help you give your surgeon the information he or she needs to help you keep the band optimally adjusted. Thinking Adjustment Once you have eliminated the concpet of "fills" from you Lap-Band vocabulary, you will be able to let go of much of the conventional thinking connected to it. Perhaps you have heard talk about the "ideal" amount of fluid in the Lap-Band. While it may be helpful to have some idea of how much fluid is in your band, Dr. O'Brien says there is no magic number. No perfect amount of fluid will provide the best results for everyone. He says, rather, that "whatever volume of fluid is needed to achieve the [feeling of non-hunger] is the correct volume." When you notice that you are feeling hungry or are not losing weight, your body is telling you it is time to revisit your partner in weight loss -- your surgeon. your success absolutely depends on this relationship. So rather than thinking "adjustments," adjust your thinking, and, in partnership with your surgeon, find a lifetime of health! For more information about all of the themes discussed in this article, please see Dr. O'Brien's book, The Lap-Band Solution--A Partnership for Weight Loss, which is available fro Amazon.com. We also invite you to visit LAP-BAND® System Forum - Home for more information and supportive resources.

On my quest to find another GP. On top of denying me, he prescibed Zoloft, and when I looked up the side effects, number one was weight gain!! Now I don't really feel depressed accept being overweight. So how is putting on more weight going to make me feel? I threw my prescription in the trash! Just hope I don't have to do another 6 months with another doc!

I'm prone to infections, so I couldn't do the Mirena or the Nuva Ring. And I had unbalanced hormones with the pill. The Depo caused nausea and weight gain. So I am now using the Ortho Evra Patch....so far so good.

Well I was banded Dec 16th and my weight loss was gong fine until my 2nd fill I have lost nothing! Well okay 2lbs in 3 weeks. But it seems like nohing! I had lost 36lbs up to that point! My Physician Assistant warned me this would happen and that weight gain could happen to but dang is it hard to deal with! I get so aggravated because it has slowed and non I am fighting the good old demons to stay strong and not slip into old habits! And not getting full really sucks!!! Glad to see others in the same boat! I hope by may we are all out of this.....

Google is your friend in an instance like this. I just searched "body shapers after weight loss surgery" and came up with a ton of options. I bet you would get the same if you searched for "Compression garments after weight loss surgery" as well. I am certain you will find something that will make you more comfortable. As far as being a "monster"? I am sure I would make young girls run away crying if they saw the state of my boobs, bits and belly after two pregnancies and a massive weight gain/loss. I can't afford surgery **and**college for my kids, so my choice is obviously to stay in the skin I am in. Fortunately, my kids, my husband, my loved ones care about me no matter what I look like naked. (Please note, my husband is the only one who actually SEES me naked.) I am sure your loved ones feel the same about you. I wish you well in your search!

I second what Nika said. Just hang in there! I had some serious regret my first week with all the complications I had, but every week has gotten better and better and so has my outlook. Don't beat yourself up too badly about not losing a bunch of weight yet. It'll come in time. I was very frustrated because I came home weighing more than what I did my day of surgery. Having to lose the "hospital" weight gain made the first week and a half frustrating, but once I got past that hump things were better. I will say the better I do on my fluids, Vitamins, and Protein the better the weight seems to come off. It does make a difference. Keep your chin up!

I'm at the very beginning stages.... Had my first appt end of April! I see people saying that they didn't get approved because of a weight gain, but what are they referring to? Can you not gain any weight from first spot to surgery date? Or is it month by month? Or just on pre-op diet? I'm so confused.... I'm 3 lbs heavier than my spot last month... Will this be an issue?

first off, congrats! secondly, i had my first a little over a month ago after being 18 months post op with the band. the advice i'd have given myself nine months ago would be to make sure your OBGYN knows how the band works and don't just take their word for it. make sure that they really do. it will save you quite a bit of frustration down the line. enjoy your pregnancy. don't be afraid to ask questions and don't get all twitchy (personal experience) when you start seeing the numbers go up on the scale. it's not as bad as it seems. i've lost half of the weight i gained, so stressing did little to prevent the weight gain and you want to avoid stress (no kidding really hehe) when pregnant anyhow. also that whole myth of eating for two is really a myth. it's really only an extra 300 or so calories a day. make sure they set a realistic calorie intake. part of why i said make sure that your OBGYN knows how it works. there was no way under the sun i could consume a 2000 calorie daily intake and not blow up like a balloon (they only wanted me to gain 15 pounds), when my normal intake was around 900. sorry for rambling

I would think that maybe a weight gain of 10 or more lbs could trigger a denial, but a persons body weight usually shifts by a few pounds up or down, and for a woman especially. maybe they just don't want to give the insurer any reason at all to deny coverage? Best of Luck to you!

I have been experiencing this as well. For me I think I was in denial about the way that I look. Since beginning this process I have had to open my eyes and face the facts of my weight gain. I've had to be honest with what I eat and why; so much of this is psychological. At a support group I attended they said, "we operate on your stomach, not your brain; we'll fix the stomach but you have to work on the rest". I was and am a happy person; part of maintaining this was denying what I was doing to myself. I don't know if this applies to you; just something I have been coming to terms with. Keep talking about it; just knowing someone else is going through this is helping me and I'm sure others; thanks for sharing

Well after my psych eval in march is when my doc will submit to my insurance. And yes waiting is the hard part, but I'm going to stay positive because I have been doing what I'm supposed to. I decided to switch to the DS firstly because my doc brought it up, and I didn't know insurance would cover it till I talked to him so I didn't do my research to begin with, and then decided to do my research and there's a lot to the DS that I feel would be a bit better for me. Such as keeping the valve unlike in the RNY also because with RNY you only lose about 60% of excess body weight and with the DS you actually lose about 85% excess body weight, and with the RNY people usually gain some weight back, and with the DS weight gain is almost never seen. So that's definitely a plus for me. because if I'm going to get surgery and do everything right I don't want to stable out with some weight gain from my lowest weight which usually happens with RNY paitients (not all but some) so I've done a lot of research and I feel the DS is for me. There are some things though that are negative such as body odor is stronger but fixes itself within the first 6 months and having to take in MORE protein and vitamins but that's ok for me. He said the DS isn't for everyone but I do believe its for me. And I've done A LOT of research on it.

I thank those who post about sudden or long term problems with the band. It would appear things are going along ok for some of them for years and then big problems and weight gain. Frankly, this scares me. I've adjusted to banded life for over 8 years and am very compliant....but hear others are as well and then BOOM ... Their life changes. Maybe long term success with the band people just don't post often? I know there are many of us out in the world????just wanting to believe that I suppose

I'm not sure about the liquids for some reason Iv never been a big drinker of anything so the band just increased what was already a struggle with the whole don't drink and eat thing and wait 30 mins. I didn't revise only because of reflux, It was managed with Prilosec well enough but more so because of just sick of the whole lifestyle that came with the band. Yes I could have loosened or unfilled but only with weight gain. Iv not had even a slight bit of reflux since removing the band but I also had a hiatal hernia repair during the revision. I had many barium swallows over the years since I worked in the surgeons office, a few dilated pouches that I would refill for about a month to correct but they never fully corrected. My esophagus is still dilated even in my recent X-rays.

Aw shucks you guys..... that's so nice of you to say. Yes, he is a good kid. He's 23 but I still think of him as a kid. He's going to University at Texas A&M in Corpus Christi and doing so well. I'm very proud of him. I also have a 20 year old son who's away at college and I don't see him as often. It's funny the relationship that boys have with their Mommas. I just love them both to death. My DH says I spoil them. To bad. It makes me happy. They're the light of my life. I have an old black and white picture of me that I modeled for back in college on my wall in the living room. Back in my heyday. LOL When their friends see it for the first time they always say WOW who is that? They always respond. That's my mom! Hot huh? When the youngest was a baby people would ask him how he got so cute. He would say: "Cause my momma's good lookin!" Little angels.... They never seemed to notice my weight gain over the years. It's not until now that they have ever mentioned it. I love that they're proud of my accomplishments. It means a lot coming from them. More than you know....

10 1/2 years post and very thankful for my band. Not to say I haven't had my issues with some weight gain and difficulties but I attribute that to me learning about the reasons for being overweight, emotional eating and learning to life a healthier lifestyle. I am very blessed to say I have had no issues with my band such as reflux, etc. My band keeps me in check but a lot of the weight loss success has to do with me keeping up my end of things with exercise, making good food choices and not reverting to emotional eating.

Hello to everyone, It has been such a long time since I have been on the boards. I had my surgery 2009 and have not yet made it to goal, still have this last 25 pounds to go. I was wondering if the band has to have any fluid put back in after all this time or does it remain with the same amount of fluid with the weight loss. My doctor is going out of business and now I have to find another doctor in the Raleigh area. I will not complain about the band as the band has done what it suppose to do. I find myself not being able to eat a lot of things but I sometimes try anyway. The last couple of months I have had problems with the food not going down and getting sick. I just need some support because I know I can do this. The weight gain has only been 13 pounds in 3 yrs but I did not want that. I started out at 240 with my lowest weight being 173. My goal was 160 and I really want to get there but I am back at 183 currently. What would be some suggestions to help? In 2012 my niece was murdered and it has been a downward spiral for me. I have started to exercise everyday with a couple of co-workers but I just need some support right now. Feeling a little lost right now but need to find another doctor also. Any help would be appreciated.

Almost six year this September with the Band. For me any weight gain has been my fault the band has always helped me at meal times with the quantity. When I have gained weight has been eating after nine at night. Another problem was snacking to much during the day. I also stopped exercising. So naturally I gained weight none of this has been the bands fault. On January 1, 2013 I had made my way back to 250 and have recommitted myself to go back on the journey. I try to go to bed by nine at night. I limit my snacking during the day and I restarted my exercise program. My exercise of choice is resistant band training and walking. The band has helped in that I no longer take metformin, no longer have sleep apnea, no longer have to take pain medicine for knee and back pain. In any case I love my Band and all the NSV,s that come with it.

I think the weight gain was from the air installed in my tummy as well as the huge amounts of Fluid they infused in me. And last but not least, TMI - but being constipated by the pain meds. But all is well now. I'm pretty darn happy! The doc said that surgery would probably be 2 hours but I was done in an hour! Started walking around as soon as I got to my room later that evening and never stopped! The walking was key to being discharged and getting my body woken up from the anesthesia. I was discharged two days after surgery! In on Wednesday and out on Friday. Not too shabby! I've not had any issues keeping fluids down or drinking, and I've had to remind myself to take it slow. Pain has been minimal, but of course, if you move the wrong way too fast, you'll feel incisional pain. Not a big deal. I have had a "upset tummy" at times, but I think that is partially from drinking too much at a time. That subsides, and the Omeprozol helps. Happy to answer any other questions! Best wishes to all and I'm so glad I did this! Crash!

I'm a guy about an hour northeast of DFW.Commerce Tx.Feel free to lean on me a bit.Ive had my 10cc realize band for about 2years.I lost a lot of weight for the first year.Then in January of 2012 I had a fill to 6.5.I was complacent up to fri October 12.Then I went in for another fill.im sitting on 7.5cc right now.I do work out and I lift heavy.So I don't know if my weight gain could be attributed to that.I feel good and my friends say I still look good or even better.So this has been my life changer and story.I think this last fill will hopefully put in my sweet spot.By no means am I an authority on this.Still practicing to get it right