Permanent Stall

[Inspired916 0]

I am almost 4 months post-op and I have never had a week where I lost more than 5lbs except for the first week. The first week after my big loss I lost nothing and I thought it was a fluke. 3 weeks went by and everyone in my life and on this forum said it was a stall. 4 weeks.. 5 weeks... 6 weeks... Week 7 I lost 5 lbs and I was so excited finally the stall was over.. Then week 8,9,10 hit with 1-2 lbs losses or nothing at all. The last few weeks have been much of the same .5 lbs- 1.8 lbs some weeks I even gained! Truth is I have all of the bad stuff I get sick, my hair is falling out, I can eat some days and the others nothing sits. My dr has no idea why 4 months in I am not losing the weight. He makes up new things each month and new versions of a diet. Each month I try the new version and nothing helps. I am regretting ever having this. 4mnths in and 30lbs down and I should be happy right but I am so depressed. I am losing at a rate of 4-5lbs a month (minus the first week) this is the rate of a normal diet not of someone that had gastric bypass...

I don't know what to do anymore...

[James Marusek 5,244]

You're right this does not sound typical. You indicated that "your hair is falling out" and "I can't eat some days". hair falling out could be due to a lack of nutrition or Vitamins. Are you drinking your Protein shakes? How much Protein are you consuming each day? Do you have a problem drinking the required quantity of Water each day? Are you deviating from the Vitamin regiment? Do you experience diarrhea or Constipation? At 4 months, you should be consuming a half a cup of food per meal. Is it hard for you to eat solid foods? I know I am asking a lot of questions but I just want to help.

[Inspired916 0]

I can eat solid foods but I do better with soft fruits, Cereal, crackers, cottage cheese, cheese and things like that. I don't typically have a great time with chicken, beef or otherwise. I'll be I can eat probably 2 ounces maybe at one time. I do better with lunch meat. I drink pretty much all the Water I am suppose to it's like a religion for me so I'm really good about that. I take morphine for a very severe pain disorder that I have so I do have Constipation issues but I have medication that helps with that although I am sure it's still not normal. I didn't think about it but yes I must have issues with solids because I do better with food that's mushy or that I can make mushy like crackers. I can eat solids but I my body kind of says no more after a few bites and I don't feel like getting sick so I don't push it. Anything would help I'd literally eat while jumping on one leg and singing the national anthem if I thought it would help. I am desperate to just be normal and some medical anomaly

[Inspired916 0]

Sorry I take in 27 grams of Protein through a shake in the am and 30-40 in other foods. So 60-70 a day. I tried to increase it because that was one the magic solutions my dr said to try for a month so I shot up to 2-3 shakes a day and 60 grams in other meats. So I was hitting 90-110 a day and I went back to a complete stall twos week and gained weight the other two weeks.

[James Marusek 5,244]

O.K. It sounds like your Protein and Water are good. I also had a problem with solid foods but not as extreme as you. I found that I could tolerate high Protein chili and Soups. I am 11 months post-op from gastric bypass - RNY. I reached my bottom weight at 7 months. So you might see if you can tolerate these. I put together a short article "How I survive bariatric surgery". In the article I also included some recipes. Here is a link. http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery.pdf

So I would say, give it a try. Do the chili. One half cup per meal, three times per day. Now for the other part. I would say 70 grams per day of protein is probably good. Your total protein is the combination of what comes in the meals plus your protein supplements. Now flip over to the other side of the equation and add up your total calories per day. I came to a plateau during my weight loss. At the time, my meal volume was so small, that there just wasn't very many calories on the meal side. But there was calories on the protein supplement side. In my case I cut down from 3 Protein shakes a day down to two and I started to lose weight again. I was using Muscle Milk Light for my Protein Shakes which is a concentrated form of protein. But there are even more concentrated forms of protein out there.

Muscle Milk Light mixed with Water 210 calories 25 grams protein

Protein Ice 170 calories 42 grams protein

So this is a way to reduce your caloric intake. But for me, protein ice tasted really, really bad. But my wife liked it.

Another question is "Are you taking the prescribed Vitamins?". Because of the surgery, your body is no longer synthesizing some of these.

Since you are taking pain medicine, I think I have read in other posts that pain medicine can interfere with weight loss.

The other possibility, is there is something wrong medically, either with the surgery or your body.

[Inspired916 0]

Thank you for the advice and I will try it. I take protien shakes and Vitamins from a baratric company called Bariatric Fusion. The chocolate shakes aren't bad and are made for people like us. I can make it as thick or thin as I want. I normally do 4oz of milk and that fills me up. The vitamins they have me on 4 times a day as same thing they are made for us.

Honestly my Dr. refuses to do a swallow study or cat scan because he insist it's the calories, protien or food. I know that people have the surgery and they tell the doctors they doing the right thing and they tell people that their eating the right things and they are lying. Fortunately and unfortunately for me my wife is also a bariatric patient and is four years postop. She is watching me like a hawk so I know that I'm not doing something wrong when it comes to the process and food. Thank you for the article and advice I need all I can get!

[WildGrits 101]

Are you charting your food? Maybe you are under in the carbs area? I use fitness pall to track my food when I slack. But right now I can eyes balls my portions.

Are you walking or getting any sorts of exercise?

For Constipation, are you on a daily regime? Like Miralax every day?

Edited May 25, 2014 by WildGrits

[Inspired916 0]

I keep a food diary and monitor my weight weekly. I take lactalose for Constipation daily. I have a "fitbit" which monitors my steps and sleeping. It also keeps your food, Water and weight. I workout 3 days a week at out he ome gym, and I walk 10,000 steps almost daily. I just had a second opioon done and he confirmed I am about 30 lbs behind the average patients. He told me to do the opposite of everything my dr told me to do. So instead of eating every 2 hours only eat when hungry and instead of 100 g of Protein to only eat 40 grams. He said it didn't matter how little calories I ate and the smaller the better. I followed that advice for the last 2 weeks and I just gained 1.8 lbs... Wow words can't even begin to say how awful I feel.

[James Marusek 5,244]

Wow! 10,000 steps daily. That would be equivalent to 5 miles. Around 40 years ago, I decided to do daily exercise to try and lose some weight. I began walking each day after work and built myself up to 10 miles per day. But instead of losing weight, I actually began gaining weight. I didn't realize it at the time but this was good weight. I was building muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat. I was replacing some of my fat cells with muscle cells and as a result was gaining weight.

With this level of exercise, I would be cautious about reducing your Protein intake down to 40 grams daily.

Earlier you mentioned that your partner had bariatric surgery 4 years ago and watches you like a hawk. What does your partner think about the stall?

[Inspired916 0]

I didn't think about working out and gaining weight. I have tried hard to make it a daily regime and keep moving.

My wife is completely taken back by all of this. To be honest the first few weeks after the surgery when It was stall after stall. She kept saying it's just a fluke don't worry it'll start coming off. Then as the weeks kept going by she just couldn't understand why I wasn't losing. My first stall was 3 weeks, then I lost -4 and then 3 weeks went by and I lost another -5 and then 8 weeks and -6lbs. Now we are back in a 3 week stall. She is very heartbroken for me, she tries so hard to help and keep me going. However no matter how many times we change things no matter how many dr's or nutritionist give us new "changes in my diet" they never work and I stall.

[James Marusek 5,244]

A few more questions. You said you had a gastric bypass. Was it a Roex-en-Y or a sleeve or an Omega loop. I know next to nothing about an Omega Loop other than it is popular in Australia and their meal plan and Vitamin requirements are really, really strange. Your profile shows you as a female. Is this a mistake? I only mention this because of Water retention issues that are sometimes experienced by females. Do you have any co-morbidity problems that cause you to take prescription medicine that might interfere with weight loss? Did you experience any bad side effects from the surgery?

[Inspired916 0]

First off I am a female and I have a wife so yes I could being retaining Water. I had Roex-en-Y surgery and I do take medications but my dr and my second opinion both said none of my meds have an effect on my weight. They had a tough time during the surgery but not after. I thought about water retention but don't know how to get rid of it.

[James Marusek 5,244]

I am not an expert on Water retention issues. Here are a couple links to prior discussion on this website on the topic:

http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/308634-arggh-a-little-girly-topic-herewhy-is-the-scale-going-backwards/?hl=%2Bwater+%2Bretention#entry3483845

http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/306499-girl-timeaunt-flow-and-stalls/?hl=%2Bwater+%2Bretention#entry3461236

One of their recommendations is to reduce the frequency of stepping on the scale. They recommend monthly. This may do you some good since it seems like you might be stressing over your weight loss and this stress in itself can affect your weight loss numbers.

You are doing excellent exercise and as a result you may be producing dense muscles to replace your fat cells. This can also affect your readings. But its a good thing. I would side with your doctor and recommend you continue to take in around 100 grams of Protein each day. With your level of exercise, you need the Protein. 40 grams of protein will just not cut it.

[James Marusek 5,244]

A strange thought crossed my mind last night. It is way out in left field, so if it misses the mark, then disregard.

Most people that undergo bariatric surgery are extremely overweight, physically out-of-shape, and plagued by a variety of health issues like high blood pressure and diabetes. In some ways, we are at death's door and bariatric surgery offers the last best shot for continued survival.

But there is I believe another category of individuals that appear to use bariatric surgery. These are semi-professional athletes. And I think they undergo surgery to get at the top of their game. For example read both page 1 & 2 of the following thread.

http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/306632-lifting-weights/?hl=weight%20lifting

If you fall within this category, then perhaps you are focused on the wrong metric. Instead of "weight loss" perhaps the metric should be "measured increased performance".

[lil883csporty 0]

I had RNY in February. I have lost 40 lbs. I read about others that have lost that amount of weight in the first month. I, like you, do better with soft foods or cracker like foods that are easy to to chew. A couple weeks ago I had to have an endoscopy due to a stricture. They had to use a balloon to stretch the opening because I was having severe pain when I tried to eat solid foods or take pills. That has been my only real complication of the surgery. I lose maybe 1 to 2 pounds a week, if I am lucky. I consume enough Protein via Protein shakes and was exercising daily before I had my endoscopy. I feel like I have stalled throughout the last couple of months. It is very frustrating since I really am not eating much but I am still ensuring that I am meeting my Protein and Water consumption requirements.

Have you had any luck in finding out what is causing your slow weight loss? I understand how frustrating and depressing it is to have had the surgery, to have followed the recommended post operative requirements and not really have the results that I see everybody else having. I hope things are getting easier for you. Any input or suggestions that you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Hang in there you are not the only one going through this.